BhupenHazarika

Assam calls him সুধাকণ্ঠ, the voice as sweet as nectar. The title is traditionally said to have been given by the poet Ananda Chandra Barua at Majuli in 1968. But he also wrote most of what he sang, composed the music, directed films and served in public life.

"Songs are a definite way for social change."As quoted in The Assam Tribune, 2021

He wasn't a singer who happened to care about society. He studied it. His Columbia thesis, dated 1952, argued for using every medium available to reach ordinary people. He wrote about boatmen, rickshaw drivers and third-class passengers. "Manuhe Manuhar Babe", from the early 1960s, asks who will care for people if people will not.

When India and China fought in 1962, he sang for the soldiers who died. During the language riots of 1960 he toured with Hemanga Biswas. In Bangladesh, a 2006 poll placed his Bengali "Manush Manusher Jonno" second only to the national anthem.

Those years weren't simple. He supported the early Assam Movement and was deeply disturbed by the violence that followed, including at Nellie in 1983. "Mahabahu Brahmaputra", dated 1980, praises the river as a meeting place of many peoples, at a time when that wasn't an easy thing to sing in Assam.

He directed Era Bator Sur (1956), then Shakuntala, Pratidhwani and Loti Ghoti, each awarded the President's Silver Medal for Best Assamese Feature Film. He became the composer behind Kalpana Lajmi's films, including Ek Pal, Rudaali, Darmiyaan and Daman, and wrote music for M. F. Husain's Gaja Gamini (2000).

He sat in the Assam Assembly as an independent member for Naoboicha from 1967 to 1972, was President of the Asam Sahitya Sabha at Sibsagar in 1993, and later chaired the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament from Guwahati in 2004.

In 2017 the new bridge at Sadiya, 9.15 km long, was named the Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Setu. His birth centenary opened in Assam on 8 September 2025, and a national closing is scheduled for 29 November 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.