The sonorous voice of the enigmatic Shubha Mudgal stood out in ‘Piya Tora Kaisa Abhiman’ and ‘Mathura Nagarpati’ from Rituparno Ghosh’s ‘Raincoat’. It’s been 19 years, but the songs continue to rule hearts. So, when music composer Bickram Ghosh collaborated with the Hindustani classical music singer for the Bengali film, ‘Jongole Mitin Mashi’, it made the fans happy.
Recently, Ghosh recorded a song with Mudgal for Arindam Sil’s sleuth film on Mitin Mashi, starring Koel Mallick, in Mumbai. “Arindam and I sat down to discuss the music for ‘Jongole Mitin Mashi’ and I came up with the idea of roping in Shubha ji. The song comes at a critical juncture in the movie where tension builds up in the jungle and it seems more mysterious than ever. Beautifully written by Sutapa Basu, the classical song has strong shades of ‘Ahir Bhairav Raga’,” said the music composer.
Interestingly, Ghosh has collaborated with the Padma Shri singer four times. Way back in 2005, both had worked on ‘Beyond Rhythmscape’. Later, she sang for Ghosh’s composition in ‘Jal’ in 2011 and later ‘Vande Mataram’ in 2012.
Describing Mudgal as ‘warm, progressive and erudite’, Ghosh said how much fun he had working with her. “She is an asset to Indian classical music and she thinks much ahead of her times. We have also done a video of our song recording and it shall feature in the music video,” he said.
Speaking about the musical collaboration, Mudgal said, “With Bickram’s experience in creating award-winning music for many films and with Arindam ji’s track record of hits, they could have asked just about any of the several accomplished artists in the industry to record this song. That I got to be the lucky one is special to me. I have recorded for Bickram on more than one occasion and it is always a very relaxed and pleasant experience to dub for him. This time, too, was no different. I sincerely hope that the track I have sung will be well received.”
After ‘Bony’ in 2021, Koel makes a comeback with ‘Jongole Mitin Mashi’, which hits theatres in Durga Puja.