Ghoshal was the playback in all Goopi Gayen, Bagha Bayen films which under Satyajit Ray's direction and musical score reached a new high. Tapan Sinha, another outstanding film maker from Bengal chose Ghoshal to set tune together with him for Sagina Mahato, starring Dilip Kumar and SairaBanu.

Ghoshal sang and put in magical touches to the music of this film set against the. back drop of trade union movement in a north Bengal tea garden. If such badges of honour were not enough, the stamp of nationwide appreciation came from none other than Mumbai filmdom.

RD Burman who needs no introduction and is known for never settling anything but the best in his choice of singers earmarked Ghoshal to render " Tujhse Naraz Nahi Zindagi" in the film .Massom..Apart from being Shekhar Kapoor's directorial debut, it was a take on Eric Segal's memorable book Man, Woman and Child.

Overnight Ghoshal 's singing abilities became household knowledge nationwide. The film was a tearjerker and after each show few left dry eyed humming "Tujhse Naraz Nahi Zindagi...".Ghoshal's place was secure in the hall of fame of play back singers.

After all, neither Ray nor Sinha, perfectionists that they were, could be faulted in their choice. The Masoom song was a mere icing on the cake.

Sagina Mahato took Ghoshal's flag nationwide. After all, its starcast cut across the language barrier showcasing the singer and music director's skill all over the country making " Chotisi Panchi....' Ghoshal's duet with Arati Mukherjee a superhit rendition.

If Goopi Gayen Bagha Bayen had its audience rooted in Bengal, but its visit to the film festival, an honour common to all Ray films carried Ghoshal's songs far beyond the borders of the country he lived. Like Goopi the singer who could travel anywhere wearing magic shoes following the boon granted by the king of ghosts, so did Ghoshal's songs.

The artistes either carried his/her political ideology on their sleeves or were fellow travellers of a particular school of political thought. But few have the gumption to seek the people's verdict on their political belief; Ghoshal was an exception who stood up to be counted.

Instead of staying away from the hurly burly of electoral politics, Ghoshal chose to contest 2011 Assembly elections as a Trinamool Congress nominee from Uttarpara. It was a tough call as no political analysts foretold a sweeping Trinamool triumph.

But Ghoshal took the call and emerged victorious. It does not matter that his political career did not match his singing success. Kishor Kumar was the first choice to singer Goopi Gayen songs. Ghoshal stepped in following the unavailability of the eccentric genius.

The character of Goopy needed a simple voice such as one comes across invoking the deities at the crack of dawn or calling the cattle home at sundown. Despite training from Tarapada Chakraborty and Debabrata Biswas, and armed with a doctorate the voice of Anup Ghoshal had a simplicity of its own.

Like Goopy, an individual born and brought up in the lap of nature where the dawn breaks with chirping of birds and the sound of conch shells beckons the dusk, Ghoshal's voice too was shorn of artifices unlike a trained singer. Like Goopy, a character essayed effortlessly by Tapen Chattopadhyay, it was a simple and open voice.

It was this characteristic that fitted the voice of Sagina so well. The fact is open to debate whether the characters of either Goopy or Sagina could have been portrayed so well on screen sans Ghoshal's singing.

It was the same quality of openness and rhythm which made songs sung by Ghoshal in Tarun Majumdar's Phulesheari and Tapan Sinha's Bancharamer Baganto become major box office draws. Lipped by rustic characters who had their roots to the soil, the voice suited the protagonists best..

It seems that the clinching evidence to the quality of Ghoshal's singing is given by Shekhar Kapoor. Referring to "Tujhse Naraz Nahi..." he said " if you take that voice away, I don't think the song would have the same meaning. " One and all, we cannot agree more. Whenever Anup Ghoshal sang, it was always a class act. (IPA Service)