After performing at the ongoing North East Festival, Papon talks about his non-filmi background to his inspiration in life and everything in between. By Jigyasu Joshi
Many of his songs refuse to leave the mindspace as does his voice. Angaraag Mahanta, popular as Papon, is oscillating between independent music and his career in Bollywood. Making his way up in the music industry, he believes that it is one creative space where talent gets recognised the most. “I have not had any filmi background and I don’t know if this life would have been possible if films had not happened to me. But I could work my way through despite challenges of not having a godfather, guru or a lobby,” he tells us while rehearsing for the Northeast Festival, his way of paying tribute to his roots in Assam. Though he doesn’t want to stress his vocal chords three hours before his performance, he still gives in to our request. Only to prove that a simple boy with a dream from a faraway land can make it and demolish the cliches.
As hit music in Bollywood is becoming increasingly synonymous with rap and senseless lyrics, Papon is among the handful of artistes who believe in the power of melody. “I was born into a musical family and that’s where the journey began. But I didn’t immediately take music as a profession till later in my life. It took me a while to realise I am good at it myself and not because my parents are musicians,” says the singer.
Apart from carving a special place in Bollywood, Papon has also worked on reviving old folk forms in the mainstream music vista. His father was a popular folk singer after all. Asked if the trend of folk music and its exponents is here to stay, he says, “Well, it is definitely getting a lot more attention, and I think that the trend is going to continue simply because we are all born with these sounds. I’m extremely happy about the space for folk and fusion experiments as I’ve been trying very hard to bring them back in whatever way I could. Also, platforms like Coke Studio and The Dewarists are taking it a step further by getting it into prime time mainstream television.”
Talking about the track he enjoys the most, Papon shares, “That’s difficult to tell. I have been listening to Fataumata Diawara a lot more than usual. I especially love her track called Sowa. Apart from that the song Mon Mur from my first album Jonaki Raati is very special to me. It is a simple, easy song written by my late uncle Keshav Mahanta and I’m blessed that he gave it to me. People have always enjoyed this song. Over time, this song has become one of our key songs on stage in Assam and otherwise.” He further adds, “I have many musical influences, from Pink Floyd to Frank Zappa to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saab, Mehdi Hasan, to my parents. My influences also include genres of music from across the world — from folk, jazz, blues and rock to electronic in the past 10 years.”
After gaining much appreciation for his first Hindi album in 2012 named The Story So Far, the Assamese rockstar has started working upon his next album titled My Story Now. “My next album will be out very soon. And I’m excited about the music that I’ve created and very keen to share it with my fans,” he gushes.
Having a huge following in Assam, his fans call themselves ‘Paponists’. “It’s a big deal for me. This connect I have with my fans is not just in Assam but all over. It increases my responsibility towards them and encourages me to do justice to the soul of music. For instance, once we performed in Serbia and there must have been only four Indians in the whole auditorium, including the Indian ambassador. The rest of the audience didn’t even know how to speak English. But they loved and responded to Assamese folk songs in a fusion format. They didn’t want us to get off the stage; this connection we had with the audience was amazing.”
The GIMA award-winner said that it was his father, Khagen Mahanta, also a folk singer from Assam, who has inspired him always. “My father was a folk legend in Assam. He was responsible for the love that folk music receives in Assam. He always insisted that I develop strong roots so that I could branch out with confidence,” concludes Papon.
Something that led him to form his own band called The East india Company in2007. We called it East India Company because most of us are from that region. Besides, we also perform music from East India. I started touring in Assam, following the release of my first Assamese album Jonaaki Raati. It was then that I realised that there was so much talent lying idle. In August 2007, I decided to bring some of these boys to Delhi. They stayed with me for two months in my house. I already had ideas after our tours in Assam. We were doing rock and funk but I wanted to add more electronic music to it. I was interested in Anokha, Nitin Sawhney, Fundametal, Asian Dub Foundation, State of Bengal at that time – the whole Asian Underground scene. So we jammed in Delhi and it became a different sound. At that time in India, there was not much electronic mixed with folk.” That experiment continues.