There was a touch of novelty in Dilip Kumar Roy’s birthday celebrations this year. Religiously put together by Sura Kavya Trust (G.D. Birla Sabhaghar, January 22), the evening unfolded with the presentation of Sri Chaitanya, a musical verse drama that Roy composed in the lines of medieval hagiographers. Concentrating on the quasi-philosophical exchanges between Chaitanya and Vishnupriya, his second wife, the composition scored highly on musical count as Roy inserted some of his devotional gems within the dramatic framework. The haunting ke gaan geye geye chale jay, delivered soulfully by Shikha Basu, was remarkably close to the popular perception of Chaitanya. Apart from the songs, the performance did not reach any great heights.

The musical session began with a characteristic charged recital by Sarmila Bose. Although predictable in song selection, her takes on devotional numbers like Mutho mutho rangajaba were commendable. However, the real treat was an encomium composed by Roy in memory of Subhas Chandra Bose that the master himself taught the residents of Netaji Bhavan sing in 1976. At the end it was Arun Bhaduri who took up the challenge of rendering the Roy numbers, mostly archival and rarely attempted.