Rabindranath Tagore’s universal appeal and Shankha Ghosh’s contemporary resonance came together beautifully in a musical titled Gaaner Aakash Kobi performed at GD Birla Sabhagar in Ballygunge recently.
The event, presented by Zitatel in association with My Kolkata, brought together artistes from Kolkata and Dhaka. Among those who pehrformed were Bangladeshi singer Laisa Ahmed Lisa and Rabindrasangeet singer from Kolkata, Prabuddha Raha, who sang with his students Poulomi Majumdar and Prattay Raha.
Biswajit Chakraborty and Soumili Biswas narrate the script
“We have been planning this programme for a long time but we were also a bit scared to attempt it since the subject is difficult. Amalgamation of Rabindranath Tagore and Shankha Ghosh was not easy. They are, perhaps, the two greatest literary persons of Bengal. The script has been written with attention to intricate details. Quotations of both poets have been beautifully woven into the script,” Raha said.
Laisa Ahmed Lisa said: ‘The way Shankha Ghosh’s poems and Tagore’s songs have been woven together, the audience will really appreciate it. Sumantra Sanyal has wonderfully scripted the whole thing. He belongs to the present generation. I really appreciate his efforts and interest towards this topic. I really don’t want to make any difference between the performers singing the same genre of music but due to the geographical differences, we have been marked as epar Bangla and opar Bangla. We sing the same music, our likings are the same and our emotions are expressed in the same way. Epar Bangla and opar Bangla are just geographical differences.”
Speaking of the programme, Poulomi Majumdar said: “This is a very unique programme. Amalgamating works of two poetic geniuses is not that easy. But Sumantra Sanyal has written a wonderful script. The experience is overwhelming. I have learnt a lot in this journey.”
Pramita Mallick and (right) Sanghamitra Gupta were felicitated at the event
Before the main programme, veteran Rabindrasangeet singers Pramita Mallick and Sanghamitra Gupta were felicitated.
Around 22 songs were performed. The programme started with Prane gaan nai, michhe tai phirinu je followed by Onek kotha bolechilem, Esho esho aamar ghore, Aami tarei khunje berai, he khoniker otithi, Aha tomar songe praaner khela, Jaago jaago re jaago sangeeto and others. There were solo, duet and chorus performances. Surajit Das played the keyboards, Partha Mukhopadhyay was on the tabla, Dipanjan Roy on the guitar and Debasish Haldar on the esraj.
The programme ended with the chorus performance of the song Tumi bondhu Tumi Natho. Poems like Kibhabe janabo ei bhore, Bola hoyeni se kotha, hobeo na ar, Noori pathorer opor die goriye jae Sindhu jwol and others were narrated.
(From left) Prattay Raha, Biswajit Chakraborty, Soumili Biswas, Prabuddha Raha, Laisa Ahmad Lisa and Poulomi Majumdar put up an unforgettable performance
The entire script was written by Sumantra Sanyal. Biswajit Chakraborty and Soumili Biswas narrated the script. Shyamoli Acharya anchored the event. Speaking about the script, Biswajit Chakraborty said: “This is a very unique production. Rabindranath Tagore’s songs and Sankha Ghosh’s poems make a very special combination. Sankha Ghosh studied Rabindranath Tagore in depth. Whenever we wanted to know in depth about Tagore or we were stuck somewhere, we used to call up Sankhababu. I love to recite and I am really grateful to have got this opportunity to narrate the script.”
Speaking of the event, managing director Zitatel Syed Zafar Imam said: “We have been promoting Bengali cultural music for quite some time. This is our third show. As a company, we like to promote Bengali culture and Rabindrasangeet. Every year, we organise a programme to promote this in a grand way.”