Assamese singer-composer Angaraag Mahanta Papon enthralled the audience at the Siri Fort auditorium during the recent opening ceremony of the first North-Eastern film festival, Fragrances Of The North-East. The singer known for baawre (Barfi) and gayekyon (Dum Maaro Dum), performed on Hindi and folk songs with his band East India Company.
“Our region is perceived as a deadend. You just turn your car and go back from there. Nobody really wants to explore it in- depth,” he says, as he began the musical show crafted to take the audience on a journey through the 8 N-E States.
Folk songs are the essence of local culture. Though the usage of instruments vary, depending on the native cultures, the soul remains the same. “We cry and romance the same way, just the expression varies,” he says, explaining how there are no musical boundaries and only political ones that exist in the North-East.
Papon, who recently lost his father, says that most of his inspiration came from him. “My father taught me that influences may be varied but music is one. As I explore various States and cultures in India, I have realised music is similar in all regions. For example Garhwali lyrics beautifully fit into an Assamese tune,” he said, demonstrating it by singing dumma dum mast kalandar fused with drum beats and bass guitar.