‘Namami Brahmaputra’ is the first ever river festival to be held in Assam. The five-day festival that is on from March 31 to April 4 pays a fitting tribute to the mighty Brahmaputra — the only river who according to legends, is male by virtue of being the son of Brahma. Singer Angarag Mahanta, popular as Papon, has composed a musical tribute in celebration of the river. Namami Brahmaputra is the theme song of the festival and its video that was released on Tuesday went viral among music lovers. It has both Hindi and Oxomia (Assamese) versions.
Besides composing, Papon has also sung parts of it along with a whole lot of renowned Assamese and nationally acclaimed singers. The Hindi version has Amitabh Bachchan singing the opening lines with Assamese pronunciation.
The other singers who make the song even more soulful and melodious include Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan, Kailash Kher, Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh,Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani, Shaan, Harshdeep Kaur, Swanand Kirkire, Shubha Mudgal, Usha Uthup and Zubeen Garg. “I was asked to compose the theme song for the festival that celebrates the mighty Brahmaputra and since the objective of the festival is to showcase Assam, I felt that if the song was rendered by singers from all over the country, it would have a wider reach, and I am ever so grateful to all my friends in the industry who took out the time to work on this project for me,” says Papon.
The Hindi lyrics have been written by Swanand Kirkire and the Oxomia version by Manmath Baishya is an adaptation of the same. “Swanand did such a beautiful job of capturing the Brahmaputra and what it means to Assam,” says Papon.
The video in both the versions remain the same and opens with Papon playing the Khol (a traditional dhol). “I also wanted to showcase the Vaishnavite classical music system and used khol (drum-like instrument made of terracotta), to support the vocals,” he adds.
The stunning video is directed by Parasher Baruah, a documentary filmmaker from Assam who has worked with Anurag Kashyap and for music series like Coke Studio in the past. The footage ranges from Majuli (the largest river island), Chandrapur to Guwahati. To break the monotony, the video features Satriya or Xatriya dance and a silhouette shot of elephants walking at the crack of dawn. Parasher who is shooting a documentary on Majuli says, “I have a brilliant team and the shots just makes it evident riight from the drone shot to the shots in the sands of Majuli. The video was fun to shoot and it was even more exciting for us when Amitabh Bachchan obliged to do the opening lines of the Hindi version. Due to the busy schedules of the artistes, getting them all at one place to shoot was difficult though that was how it was planned originally.”
The Assamese version of the song opens with Papon’s mother Archana Mahanta, who is also a renowned folk singer. Singer and music composer Joi Baruah who also features in this version says, “It couldn't have been any better than this. Brahmaputra holds an important place in the hearts of all Assamese.”
The lyrics of song urge the river never to get angry and flow calmly by touching lives with goodness. The Assamese version features singers Archana Mahanta, Mridula Das, Zubeen Garg, Pulak Banerjee, Jitul Sonowal, Tarali Sarma, Namita Bhattacharya, Kalpana Patowary, Malabika Bora, Shillong Choir, Mayukh Hazarika, Rupam Bhuyan, Manjyotsna Goswami Mahanta, Nilima Khatun, Santa Uzir and Joi Barua. Flute to the song have been rendered by Nirmalya Humtoo Dey, Manas Chaudhary in bass guitar. Papon and Zubeen Garg have sung in both the Assamese and Hindi versions.
Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdPgNulVDEo (Hindi version)
