Which of your upcoming Bollywood songs are scheduled to catch the airwaves in the months to follow ?
I have no clue ! I have recorded a few songs for some fairly big production houses but till the time the movie is announced or even get released , I can ’ t divulge anything ! As you can understand , am bound by a certain contract . So it really becomes difficult to answer such questions because until and unless the makers unveil some details , I can ’ t really disclose anything from my end . For the moment , I can only share that the next immediate song people would get to hear me in is for a film called Irada , starring Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi . Neeraj Sridhar has composed the tracklist and the number I have sung is a soulful offering from his kitty — ‘ Lodiyan ’.
Tell us something about your forthcoming music tours ?
I am doing a couple of shows in Kolkata as well as Guwahati shortly and some college concerts over the next few months are also lined up .
Is there any indie album planned or a single on the anvil ?
I ’ m soon going to start working on a ghazal album and my second EP . I ’ m more than halfway through the project . The EP will be called The Story Now EP 2 . However , there ’ s no working title set for the ghazal album . Besides , I have embarked myself upon a couple of songs and conceived an array of ideas too . Hopefully , I will release those this year . I ’ m keeping my fingers crossed !
What about scoring for films in Bollywood ? Are you considering offers ?
I have already composed tunes for a Hindi movie named Ishqeriya starring Richa Chadda and Neil Nitin Mukesh . But this was four years ago and it still hasn ’ t seen the light of the day . I don ’ t know what the current status is though . Having said that it ’ s definitely something I would love to do . In the meantime , am waiting for some quality engagements to come by . I am quite eager to score film music and that ’ s the direction I would like to walk into wholeheartedly . Wish , God sends down something my way soon !
How was the experience of making your debut in Bollywood with a Nagesh Kukunoor directorial vehicle alongwith five other reputed musicians from your fraternity ?
It was a very enjoyable stint as I like Nagesh , both as a person as well as a filmmaker . And whosoever of us was involved in the cast whether it ’ s me , Sunidhi or Shankar , we were all very happy contriving on a concept like this .
We are trying to revive this project that got stalled due to our lack of dates . It ’ s utterly frustrating for all of us to be unable to click at around the same time together because all artistes can ’ t be available on a specified day but we are desperately trying to gather things back on track . The working title of the flick was Music Men . Of late I remember having met Shankar ( Mahadevan ) and he telling me with a firm emphasis that “ we must take out time to complete this project ”. Sad but true , getting dates together has been an issue for the director since he has roped in non-actors and professionals who are always busy travelling .
Since you have already made inroads into an Assamese movie Rodor Sithi as an actor , are you in talks for doing another local outing or a Hindi film in future ?
There aren ’ t any offers brewing on that front for the time being but there is another concept which Nagesh has discussed with me . That ’ s a plan for the future to put it in black and white . It ’ s a very engrossing story between two individuals . You know acting is something I seriously find delight in . After all , you get to portray someone else , who you are not in real life and that ’ s really intriguing to say the least . You slip into another person ’ s skin and internalise his character . That ’ s a sheer challenge !
Any dream project left to be fulfilled ?
I don ’ t sing in English much and I ’ m still trying to figure out how conveniently I can do that . For I can ’ t sound like someone I am not and aping is not an intelligent option here . The reach of English as a lingua franca or a communicative language is so vast that I want my music to be heard far and wide . All said and done , this international tongue reaches out to millions of listeners and I want to work upon a project which involves my kind of folk-inspired music and where I can either croon in English or lend my vocals to another language . I would certainly love to launch this globally .
Who has been your music-idol so far and why ?
My dear dad , Khagen Mahanta . He made music out of life . For him , life , nature , food , culture — all contributed to the colourful tapestry of music he made . I guess , I have inherited his viewpoint when it comes to analyzing and assessing music . He taught me how to approach music and life . Technically he was so solid , yet his music had that sweet charm and a balm of warmth , which is why he was so much admired .
In fact it is he who has introduced me to music from all over the world , and made me understand that despite different languages , music is so similar because of its own idiom . Folk songs across the sphere talk about love , humanity , fear and hope .
Musically yes , I have been largely impacted by a lot of other artistes as well . For example , English progressive and psychedelic rockband Pink Floyd for the way they synthesized sounds and have fascinated me productionwise too . I really loved what ace English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel did . I have been also deeply mesmerized by Jagjit Singh and singers like Hariharan . Kishoreda ’ s ( Kumar ) spontaneity and the musical gems of RD Burman , SD Burman and Salil Chowdhury — all have left an indelible impression on my mind . This also explains why I don ’ t adhere to one particular style of music .
The Score Magazine
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