At first Pannalal sang modern Bengali songs, until Bishwanath Kumar, a friend of Sanat Sinha signed him for his first hit Shyama sangeet, "Aamar sadh na mitilo aasha na purilo, sokoli phuraye jay ma..." (None of my desires were fulfilled, nor my hopes have come true, O mother...).
His distinct voice and a spirit filled with devotion have touched the hearts of countless devotees of Mother Kali across Bengal.
Pannalal and his elder brother Dhananjay Bhattacharya, another eminent singer of Shyama Sangeet, wanted to please Kali by offering her their songs.
It is claimed by some that Dhananjay, received the divine grace of Mother Kali, the Exalted, but Pannalal didn't, and so he committed suicide on 27 March 1966, in his house on Kakulia Road.
He died only at a very young age of 36, but he has claimed a paramount position in the hearts of thousands of Kali devotees since his first Shyama Sangeet performance.