Bengali music series with major artistes to stream on YouTube

Sixteen popular singers from across the country have come on board to dish out Bengali songs with influences from genres ranging from Baul, Bihu to new-age pop, in a new music series that will be streamed on YouTube from Friday afternoon.

Artistes including Papon, Shaan, Sona Mohapatra, Anupam Roy, Javed Ali, Ash King, Akriti Kakar, Shalmoli Kholgade and Nikhita Gandhi will belt out the songs in the show -- 'Oriplast Originals'.

With Bengali classical and contemporary music in the foreground, the renditions will derive inspiration from folk music of Assam, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, the producers of the show said in a statement Tuesday.

It will be the first such Bengali show recorded in a live studio format, to be streamed on YouTube, and featuring so many big names, the statement said.

Composers such as Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Subhadeep Mitra and Anupam Roy are also part of the initiative.

On the first day of the show on Friday, 'Aajo Cholechhi', a Bengali song with Himachali folk references, sung by Papon and Shalmali Kholgade will be streamed.

"It feels great to be associated with Bengal's biggest music collaboration and to share the platform with artistes from across the country," Papon said.

The renditions by other artistes will be streamed on July 23, 26, 30 and August 2, 6, 9, 11, 13, concluding on August 15, the statement said.

Shaan will belt out 'Baundule' which will be streamed on July 30, while Akriti Kakar and Assamese singer Dikshu Sarma will render 'Rongila Re Mon', a Bengali contemporary romantic song infused with Assamese folk, on August 9.

"'Baundule' is such a beautiful composition and I am glad Arko (composer Arko Pravo Mukherjee) assigned this song to me," Shaan said.

"The free-flowing folk Reggae vibe and the lyrics got stuck in my heart. Arko and I have collaborated for the first time and the experience was grand," he said.

While Ash King will sing 'Ami Sudhu Tomar' on August 11, Anupam Roy's rendition 'Agomonir Gaan', a Bengali contemporary track infused with folk, will be streamed on the last day of the project on August 15.

"We are hopeful that the second version of the show with popular singers will be streamed in 2020," a producer said.