Thumri goes Pink

Hindustani classical vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty forays into Bollywood.

There is a strange sense and simplicity in Rang se huyi rangeeli re chidiya, a folk track that features in the upcoming Madhuri Dixit-starrer Gulaab Gang. If its earthy melody and old-world harmonium interludes are anything to go by, then it is reminiscent of the days when the peti-master would sit before the screen in a cinema hall and play alongside the silent films.

The song composed by sarod player Soumik Sen opens in raag Pilu, and Kaushiki Chakraborty, its singer, soon shifts gears to raag Bhairavi, with ease. In the larger scheme of things, Bollywood may not consider this a matter of much significance, but in the hallowed systems of classical music, comfortable shift from one raag to another, without losing the character of either, is likely to earn a nod of approval from the ustads and connosieurs alike.

“I didn’t know what to expect from the film or its music after a man who called himself Soumik Sen phoned and discussed the songs. So I asked him to send the compositions first. I had to find that filament to connect to the composition and interpret it my way,” says Kolkata-based Chakraborty, of the Patiala gharana and daughter of renowned vocalist Ajay Chakraborty.

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She has also sung the divine yet unstructured protest track Dheemi dheemi. Sen, the director of Gulaab Gang, heard Chakraborty at a host of concerts, before asking her to record for the film. “The idea to have Kaushiki sing for the film was as sacrosanct as casting Madhuri Dixit. ” he says.

Chakraborty, 33, who was briefly heard in a bhajan in Deepa Mehta’s Water, is well-regarded among Indian classical musicians. Her pure classical performances, replete with intricate taans and those heart-warming thumris, have become the ones to reckon with for a while now.

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