Ghazal, Afro funk, beatboxing and Punjabi folk were the highlights of Papon’s Coke Studio performance. He spoke to Iknoor Kaur about using his songs as a crutch to mull over his thoughts
We first heard him in the film Dum Maaro Dum. His recent was Janta Rocks in Satyagraha. What makes Papon popular is his ability to mix and match. Right from his first Assamese album in 2005, Jonaki Rati, Papon’s dream has been to travel the world and collaborate with musicians. He lived this dream with MTV’s Coke Studio last week.
Angaraag Mahanta aka Papon says his recent episode on the musical show turned out to be better than what he had “originally perceived”. “There were variety of instruments used. From ravan hatta, an ancient instrument to beat boxing to the accordion, electric piano, shehnahi and duduk (an Iranian instrument), the episode was a mix of different sounds,” he shared.
His routine on the show consisted of six songs. He explained, “Benaam Khwahishein was a ghazal, with a distinct blues influence. It was written by lyricist Vaibhav Modi. Khumaar was a modern, sophisticated melody. It was about a night spent together by two lovers, and how the man is waiting impatiently for the night to arrive again. Tauba was a fun track, with a range of influences, from Afro funk and bihu to Spanish blues, and had a wandering gypsy feel to it. It talked about a young man, always falling in love. The track was sung in Hindi and Assamese. Baisara Beera is an old Rajasthani folk song I learned from my father, who heard it in Jaipur around 1968. In this song, a husband tries to placate his wife, who is complaining about her in-laws. I reinterpreted my father’s version of the song, and added it in a second Assamese Holi song about Radha and Krishna. With beatboxing, the Rajasthani ‘ravan hadka’, the track took an Asian underground spin.”
He continued, “Dinae Dinae was a Bhatiali river song from Goalpara in Assam, in the sufi tradition. The song reminds us to be thankful for the human bodies that we have been given for our earthly journeys, but to always understand that they will perish one day, while our souls live on forever. I’ve also added a Punjabi folk melody, with spiritual roots. The Punjabi lyrics were written by Gurmeet Bal. Jhumor was a rousing song of the tea tribes in Assam. Over the last 500 years, people from Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal settled in Assam, making it their home, developing their own language, and also their own strong music and dance tradition. I learnt this song from my father. The track was sung by Dulal Manti, one of the original singers from the tea Tribes.”
Papon feels his inspiration is music itself. He said, “Sometimes there’s a melody that comes from within — it touches me and I feel so fresh that sometimes I get goosebumps.”
Papon has tried his hands at folk and Bollywood music. He feels that the two are poles apart. “With film music, you’re telling someone else’s story. With my own band, it is my music, and my story that I’m telling.”
He thinks that India has evolved in its folk music. “I think that contemporary acts have started taking an inspiration from folk. It is coming back into our lives with a ‘now’ tag to it. It’s all the same old stories, but in a new way,” he elaborated.
At present he is working on his next album. He is also working on the album Troikala with Scottish folk artist Rachel Sermanni. It is curated by the British Council. “I’m doing two folk albums in Assam too, the traditional way. And then of course, I’m working on some new projects for Bollywood,” he summed up.