As the pandemic hit the world and people got locked in their homes, online performances provided a new experience and outlet. Be it for staying connected, raising awareness, keeping the audience entertained or motivating frontline health workers, artistes globally came on digital platforms to perform, spread joy and connect with their audiences. The Telegraph highlights the work of a few city artistes who are yet again choosing online platforms to perform and extend a helping hand.

Rupam Islam Sourced by Correspondent

RUPAM ISLAM

Online concerts: My job is to make music and keep the morale high of the boys and girls from our fan clubs and others, who are doing this wonderful job of helping people. I am speaking to them personally, counselling them online and doing online music concerts for them to keep their spirits high. They are not used to this situation and their mental health is also important to us. They are fans of my work from Fossils and my solo concerts. They are music lovers, and the work they are doing is exceptional. I have just held a Muktokhetro session for Muktokhetro members. I did a digital solo concert for all volunteers of Team Rupam Islam as well. I have been regularly doing online digital shows since last year’s lockdown on Facebook groups. This time it will be a fundraiser concert. Since it is for insider.in, I shall be doing it on Vimeo on May 29.

New song: The song Phishphash juuge dropped on May 7 on YouTube and other digital audio platforms and it is an extension of the digital concert venture that I have been doing. We are seeing so many deaths in front of our eyes but we have to carry on and try to overcome this. We shall overcome this situation but we have to learn from the situation itself. This is what I tried to convey through my music.We did this single professionally but it did not involve any professional charge for any of us. Shibasish Banerjee did the entire arrangement, Antaroop Chakraborty did the video and Prasenjit Chakraborty, my band mate, did the mixing and mastering. This is all a labour of love for us. It is a very difficult and unique composition. We experimented with the instrumental part. I did it in my studio and the mixing and mastering department recorded the song, we did the final production from our homes. I am working on two or three more songs to be released soon.

The healing touch: Members from the fan clubs Fossils Force and Muktokhetro are based all over West Bengal in various districts. They are young volunteers who have all come together under the name Team Rupam Islam to work for Covid-affected people. They are on the ground arranging oxygen cylinders and refilling them too, groceries, food , medicines and other essential items and, at times, even sponsoring them. In order to support this team of young people and protect them we need PPE kits, sanitisers, face shields, masks and fuel costs, so we started a fundraiser through Milaap. There is already a team who are getting oxygen concentrators, so we are crowdfunding too. Apart from the ones doing the groundwork, we have an online team too. On the Facebook Covid relief page of Rupam Islam we have kept a form and if people fill out the form and tell us about their needs our volunteers directly arrange for them. People have been calling us directly too for help, I myself receive 30-40 texts every day — Rupsha Dasgupta, Rupam’s wife and manager of Fossils.

Rwitobroto Mukherjee Sourced by Correspondent

RWITOBROTO MUKHERJEE

Online concert: We started an online fundraiser concert called Buland Iraadein featuring independent artistes to support the regular functioning of the Priyonath Manna Bastee Community Kitchen in Howrah-Shibpur. After the 2020 lockdown restriction was relaxed the online event was hosted offline too. We did shows at Academy and other open-air places and it received a good response. Now we have again brought it back to the digital platform. Our next online concert is scheduled for Sunday at 7.30pm and can be viewed privately after booking the tickets through call or WhatsApp.This time we have changed the format a bit as we are trying to entertain people and distract them for a while from the grim reality outside. There will be dance, singing, reading of plays and poetry. Tickets are priced at Rs 100, but if anyone wants to contribute more, they can. If one person buys a ticket, we can feed five people from that.

The inspiration: From a very young age I have been doing social work, fundraising. I had grown up practicing these things because of my upbringing. So, it gives me immense joy and pleasure to be able to involve myself in such initiatives.

Buland Iraadein featuring Anirban Bhattacharya, Rahul, Sandra, Arko, Srabanti, Madhurima, Joyraj, Tapas and Rwitobroto will be held online on Sunday, May 23 from 7.30pm. “We were simultaneously running two initiatives side by side last year, one was a community kitchen for jute mill workers, which is still continuing, and another was supporting theatre technicians. People helped with donations but that wasn’t enough. Artistes like actor Anirban Bhattacharya, Rahul, danseuse Srabanti have all contributed to the cause with their performances for Buland Iraadein. Since it is online now, we are getting audience response from all over the world. Having continued the work since last year gave us that credibility,” said actor-director Joyraj Bhattacharjee, who also took the initiative to arrange the online concert Buland Iraadein with independent artistes.

Lopamudra Mitra Sourced by Correspondent

LOPAMUDRA MITRA

Connecting online: From Chaaron Foundation I have taken this initiative to help Covid-affected people by sharing my time with them and entertaining them with my music. I can sing and I love talking to people, I believe that’s the only way I can help people during these tough times. So, if someone wants me to spend some time with them, listen to my music and feel good , if I can encourage anyone even a bit, I would feel happy.

The initiative: We are doing this by forming a group of 10-12 people on a Zoom call. If any of my colleagues or my husband Joy wants to join in or if any artiste wants to volunteer they are always welcome. People can register through the number provided on Facebook and after submitting the Covid report they will be given access to the link for free. For now, we are sending the Zoom link only to the Covid-affected and they can join and talk to us or listen to my songs.

Looking forward: From early childhood I have always believed in standing beside people in times of need. We had 150 people register with us on the first day itself. Now we are doing it only for Covid patients but eventually we would like to extend our service to frontline workers too.

Paloma Majumder Sourced by Correspondent

PALOMA MAJUMDER

Going live: I did a fundraiser recently on Facebook and Insta Live and it was for Quarantined Student-Youth Network. They started work last year and the response has been amazing. They are setting up interim Covid care centres, getting oxygen supply... and they opened one in Thakurpukur and even in rural Bengal. So, people who do not have access to medical care are being given service and all these function on donation money because it is being run by the youth. A lot of musicians are sitting at home now unable to perform live or are posting videos of their songs online, so I thought why not turn that into a fundraiser for on-ground workers. It’s called #playmeasongoftheday

Performing with family: All of us have jobs and we seldom stay at home together. My father also sings and my brother just likes playing along. So, I thought why not involve them as they were at home already. It was just a spontaneous thing, a pleasant way for the music community of Calcutta to show up virtually for frontline workers. Music is a lovely way to spread a message. It is about coming together and spreading joy.