Former India cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar, is all set to come out with his debut Rabindrasangeet album in Bengali in the upcoming month. Manjrekar also revealed that he recorded under the guidance of renowned singer, Srabani Sen and said it was a life-long dream that had kept eluding him.
Manjrekar announced on a social networking platform today morning that he was all padded up for his new innings in Rabindrasangeet. He expressed his gratitude and said it was “one of the happiest days” of his life. He also mentioned how he had devoted a lot of time to practise his singing.
He, later on, disclosed that Srabani Sen, an exponent of Rabindrasangeet, approved his efforts and guided him through the recording and if all goes well, the album will be rel;eased before the Durga Puja.
In an interview with Bengali daily, Anandabazar Patrika', Manjrekar said, '' Although I sing Rabindrasangeet at home regularly, I never thought that I would record an album. This is a new innings.”
He apparently put in 10,000 hours of practice in theory because he does not want to make any mistakes. Being a Kishore Kumar fan from an early age, Sanjay was popular among his teammates for his singing in the dressing room. After leaving cricket, he avoided cricket coaching and administration and chose singing and commentary
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Manjrekar, however, credits former Pakistani cricketer Ramiz Raja for convincing him to take up singing. He said, “In between commentating, Ramiz used to sing Kishore Kumar’s songs to me. It was then that I thought I should take up singing.”
Last year, he had sung a playback song for a Bengali film. However, a few months back Srabani Sen convinced him to make a full album of Rabindranath Tagore’s songs.
“When I talked to him (Manjrekar) about six months back, he readily agreed (to making the album),” Sen said before adding, “(He is) a very good student. His dedication is unbelievable. Perfection is his final word.”Manjrekar is very critical about his singing, though. He said, “Actually I don’t like anything (I sing). I always think that the rhythm is breaking. I’m even ready to give as many takes as required.”
Cricket fans in India and especially in West Bengal, eagerly await Manjrekar’s album that is scheduled to come out before Durga Puja.
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