Papon had established himself as an independent musician much before Bollywood happened to him. He tells S Mallik about the penetration of folk music in present-day films
He became the voice of Ranbir Kapoor in the song Kyun from Barfi! and mesmerised us with Jiyen Kyun from Dum Maro Dum. Meet Angarag Mahanta, who is popularly known as Papon. His voice, trained in classical Assamese folk music, has a texture very different from that of his contemporaries.
He is one of the few musicians in the industry who are trying to revive independent music because composing for film music does not give him satisfaction. When he composes for films, he feels that his wings are clipped. “When I make film music, I make it for someone else’s story. The music becomes subsidiary to the story being told,” he said. He sought for his liberty through the first edition of MTV Coke Studio in 2011 where he presented a popular Bihu song Pak Pak, which was much appreciated.
For the past few years MTV Coke Studio has become a platform for artistes to explore their music. The popularity of the show is encouraging many musicians to pursue composing tunes for themselves and Papon feels that when an artiste is true to his music, he is true to himself. “Even the television channel MTV Indies is an attempt to launch independent musicians and this has contributed to a large extent in the revival of independent music scenario,” he added.
The Assamese artiste, who now lives in Mumbai, is happy with the fact that new compositions like Monta Re and Ala Barfi are using elements of folk music in their compositions. SD Burman popularised the inclusion of folk songs and music in Bollywood, he mentioned. “A lot of experiments are happening now. Regional folk has penetrated Bollywood music like never before. Be it instruments or songs or the beats, there are numerous ways in which folk elements are used today,” Papon said. While composing his songs, he always looks for ways to incorporate either a part of a folk song or use a traditional folk instrument, to lend an “earthy feeling” to the song.
Even though the singer appreciates the effort of musicians in creating a space for themselves, he feels that there is still a long way to go. “With sudden Internet explosion in the last three to four years, many independent artistes have been able to reach a wider audience. Music festivals are also a good way to reach out to people. A lot of change is happening in the film industry and most part of it is good,” he added.