From top: Ridip Dutta, Kumar Dipak Das, Manisha Hazarika and Sandhya Menon

Dec. 19: Ridip Dutta died “young” but the melodious tunes to which he infused life with his dulcet voice continues to live on in the hearts of his countless fans across the state.

A memorial programme to mark the ninth death anniversary of the singer will see some of Assam’s most popular names from the music industry come together on one stage. It will be a musical tribute to Dutta, who died on October 26, 1998, at the age of 50. The programme will also pay tribute to other revered names of Assamese musical scene.

The cultural programme, Silpi Suwarani — Surere Kathare, is being organised by a city-based socio-cultural organisation, Dipak Sangha. Ridip Dutta along with others had founded the club in the early sixties.

The two-day cultural programme on December 21 and 22 will be held at the open-air stage on the Nabagrah Kali temple premises.

The general secretary of the Sangha, Dilipjyoti Sarma, today said, “The idea behind honouring the known and unknown names of the state music scene is to honour the contribution made by Ridip Dutta to Assamese music.”

In the memory of Ridip Dutta, the club members have planned to bring forth the contribution of the talented singer for the fans. “Ridip Dutta enriched the state’s musical scene like so many others before and after him. He was one among the best musical talent that the state has produced. We are happy that some of the best singers have agreed to perform in the two-day programme,” he added.

Some of the singers who will perform in the two-day cultural programme are Tarali Sarma, Arun Das, Sandhya Menon, Manisha Hazarika, Kula Baruah, Sadananda Gogoi, Kumar Dipak Das, Samar Hazarika, Nilima Khatun, Santa Uzir, Beauty Sarma Baruah, Charu Gohain, J.P. Das and Anirban Das.

Along with the soulful compositions of Ridip Dutta, the renowned singers will perform songs composed or written by other musical maestros of Assamese music, including Jyotiprasad Agarwalla, Bishnu Rabha, Laksminath Bezbaruah, Parbati Prasad Barua, Brojen Barua, Rudra Prasad Baruah, Nirmal Prava Bordoloi, Jayanta Hazarika and Keshab Mahanta.

The president of the club, Dilip Kalita, said: “This year’s programme will be the biggest since we decided to do something different in the memory of the man who was instrumental in forming this organisation,” he said.

A multi-talented man, Ridip Dutta was also a reputed football player.

He was a member of the club’s football team and took part in several competitions.