Vocalist Shrestha Das headbangs to AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long with the microphone at Park Street. At intimate gigs, she presents stripped-down versions of her original songs. The 25-year-old wears many hats, and can switch personalities with her voice for different musical genres.
It wasn’t surprising that she made her playback debut with the Bengali film Bohurupi. Like the quick-change artistes of rural Bengal who can transform into multiple characters in a flash, she took the Brian Johnson hat off to enter the rustic multiverse of the film and deliver three hit songs: Dakatiya Banshi, Shimul Polash, and Tui Amar Hoe Ja. The first two are folk tunes, while the third is a love ballad.
English rock to Bangla folk via Indian classical
Das believes her versatility lies in the Indian Classical knowledge gained from her gurus and the acquired Western music education, which also helps her teach kids at the Adamas International School.
“I have always been playing different characters. I do rock and roll devotionally and not for the sake of it. Classical music has so many layers like thumri, khayal, and dhrupad. I am susceptible to whatever I sing, so it is easier to accept the changes. You can never sing a thumri like a bhajan, the soul is different. I used to understand these things well since childhood,” she told My Kolkata after the film and album’s successful run.
Das trained in Indian Classical music in the Senia gharana from Sandip Nag for 11 years before training under Aditi Chakraborty (Benaras gharana) and Subhrakanti Chattopadhyay (Bishnupur gharana). The experience of training in different gharanas broadened her ideas of music. "I can tell apart the differences in styles, movements, and expressions. This helps me sing different genres. It is the blessings of all my teachers and my maturity as a musician that I could be experimental with my voice,” she added.
A sweet accident with folk
L-R: Shrestha with co-singer Nanichora Das Baul and music director Bonnie Chakraborty
Shrestha started singing and composing at a young age. “I would pull out lyrics of random songs, belonging to Lata Mangeshkar ji, and try to re-compose it. These exercises told me I could write and compose. I had made a song at 13,” she said, adding that exposure to Western music happened as she got bored with the lyrics of traditional songs.
She has released four original songs. Jaane Kaisi Baatein and Ekta Porir Chitkar with Mr. Babu Records, Tomorrow, and Ghum independently. She didn't plan for a playback movie gig. Music director Bonnie Chakraborty initially called her to sing the scratch of Dakatiya Banshi. “I was called all of a sudden. I didn't know whether it was for a film or anything else. I was just asked if I could sing folk. Bonnie da told me he wanted my robust nature to reflect in the song and the character I was singing for had shades of grey. I have followed folk closely and sung the common songs. I am a big fan of Lalon Fakir and Parvathy Baul,” she shared.
Shrestha is an able vocalist: Bonnie Chakraborty
Shrestha with her band The Oort Cloud
Speaking to My Kolkata, Chakraborty said that he felt actor Koushani Mukherjee’s voice needed a raspy tone and Das fit in. “Shrestha is a deserving vocalist and dexterous. She can easily move from folk to rock to jazz. An able vocalist who is aware of her singing prowess is a hard thing to find these days — she is good with her game. I understood she could deliver,” he said.
His music transcends boundaries which resonated with Das’ powerful vocal tone. “My music should move between countries and borders, into new vernaculars and languages. The biggest element for a movie score is to do the right voice-casting. If I have to create a revolution in Bengal, I have to use brand new people. I wouldn't want to work on sound that is dated. Bohurupi has flamenco to thrash metal. The background music has so many sections,” added the man, who has worked extensively in Bollywood with Amit Trivedi, A.R. Rahman, and Shantanu Moitra, among other celebrated names.
Shrestha with her band Palindrome
Part of two English rock and roll bands Palindrome and The Oort Cloud, Shrestha may have to form a third to belt out her movie songs. For now, she says she is “sticking to the indie scene but it is not that I don’t have plans as everybody needs money.” She hopes that she can find a balance. “I need to carry these songs to the live stage. People have already started enquiring for quotations,” she informed.
As a teenager, Das had attended an Anupam Roy concert many years ago and stood mesmerised as the crowd sang every word. Now, it is time for her to enjoy the magic from the stage and inspire another youngster to pick up the mic.
