Dr. Bhupen Hazarika - known for his crisp baritone voice and flawless diction, is a noted music director, playwright, actor, journalist, author, lyricist, politician and film-maker of the highest repute from Assam, India. He wrote and sang his first song at the age of 10 and worked for the second Assamese film, Indramalati, in 1939, when he was 12 years old. He is considered today the last of the great mass singers and the only great ballad singer alive in India.

Dr. Hazarika was born on 8th Sept, 1926, in Sadiya, Assam. He was born to the family of Neelkantha Hazarika, a teacher. Bhupen Hazarika did his Inter (Arts) in Guwahati in 1942, and went on to Banaras Hindu University to complete his Bachelor of Arts in 1944. After completion of Masters in Political Science in 1946, he left for New York, USA where he lived for five years and received his doctorate (PhD) in Mass Communication from Columbia University. He also received the Lisle Fellowship from Chicago University, USA to study the use of educational project development through cinema. Between 1949 and 1955 in USA, he met musician 'Paul Robeson' with whom he became closely associated. He also met artist 'Picasso' in France. In November 2001, he was honoured with the Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) from the Tezpur University.

 Bhupen Hazarika was solely responsible for installing the first state owned film studio in Guwahati, Assam, first studio of its kind in India. He produced, directed, and composed music for Arunachal Pradesh's first Hindi feature film in colour "Mera Dharam Meri Maa" in 1977. Apart from this he has produced, directed, composed music and sang for 32 (thirty two) films in Assamese, Hindi and other languages.

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