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Songs of Piya & Payal on YouTube


Thumbnail of 'Songs of Piya & Payal' on YouTube
(You can also click the picture above to go to YouTube)

October 25, 2017:

The popular children's songs of the Sorcar sisters, Piya and Payal, that rocked Bengal during their release in mid-eighties, have been re-released online and can be found on YouTube. There are a total of eleven popular songs by the Sorcar sisters, recorded when they were at the tender ages of 8 and 5:

Chhucho Kattar Biye
Singer: Piya Sorcar
Santa Claus Chalona Shathe
Singer: Piya Sorcar
Jhi Jhi Poka
Singer: Piya Sorcar
Jachchhi Ami Mexico
Singer: Piya Sorcar
Jakhan Ami Baro Habo
Singer: Payal Sorcar
Ae Ajagar Oi Aaschhe Tere
Singers: Payal and Manick Sorcar
Tai Tai Tai Mama Bari Jai
Singer: Piya Sorcar
Mishti Shakkal Akashe
Singer : Payal Sorcar
Chhotto Putul Shona
Singer: Piya Sorcar
Chhute Chhute
Singers: Piya and Shikha Sorcar
Shapnapur Theke
Singers: Manick, Shikha, Piya and Payal Sorcar

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(Left, middle) Piya and Payal rehearsing their songs at the studio, (Right) Cover of the 45 rpm record

History: Cultural Bridge that Started at Home

The family expedition started in early 1980s. In order to attract their two US-born daughters to the Indian heritage, Manick and his wife Shikha created several children's songs in Bengali, where Manick composed the music and wrote the songs with lyrics help from Shikha, and encouraged the daughters to sing them. The first resulted in a 45 rpm record containing 'Santa Claus' by Piya and 'Ae Ajagar' by Payal and Manick, manufactured by the CBS record company, USA. Upon their release in the US, the songs became instantly popular particularly among the NRI Bengali families, which longed to have more songs like these for their own children. Inspired by this success, Manick and Shikha put their efforts to create more songs by their daughters, which eventually led to two audio cassettes ('Chhucho Kattar Biye' and 'Tai Tai Tai'), and one large, 45 rpm record - all manufactured and released by Sound Wing Company of Calcutta, India. The songs became a hit in Bengal, and the Sorcar sisters along with their parents, were interviewed by Doordarshan, the Govt. TV, India. In the USA it had equal success that led to two half-hour TV specials for children, "East Meets West" (in 1986), and "East Meets West, II" (in 1987), produced and telecast by the American CableVision of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, USA.

The Sorcar sisters received the First Prize in Junior Division, for their songs and dances at the 'Stars of Tomorrow' contest organized by the Kiwanis International Club, Div. 9, Colorado, USA in 1986.

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(Above, first three from left): The first 2 audio cassettes and their twin cover released in 1986, (Right): Large 45 rpm record. All released by Sound Wing Co., India

"...Wedding of the Mole Leader (Chucho Kattar Biye) - an audio cassette of six children's songs by daughters Piya (8) and Payal (5), music by Manick Sorcar. The marvelous combination of tune, environmental music, and magical voices of the child-artists has resulted in an excellent children's product", wrote Ananda Bazar Patrika, a leading newspaper of India.

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(Above) "LaserToons" at Nicco Park: The hit laser show ran packed house for a complete month covering a total of 78 shows, with multiple shows per day.

In 2006, "LaserToons", a 30-minute laser show containing four popular songs of the Sorcar sisters was displayed at Nicco Park, the Disneyland of India. The extravaganza of colorful graphics, animation, and three-dimensional laser-magic in space - all based on the songs, were projected on a massive tri-screen inside a custom-built mega-auditorium. In order to meet the public demand, a record 78 shows were displayed in one month!

The success of the children 's songs were the inspiration for creating several animation films by Manick Sorcar Productions that were accoladed at international film festivals. In 1993, Manick won the Gold Medal for Music Direction at the 36th International Film & TV Festival of New York for his animation film, 'The Sage & the Mouse', based on a fable from The Panchatantra.

 

 
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