Bickram Ghosh-Sonu Nigam Team Up, Combine Marwah-Purva With Armenian Duduk!

Bickram Ghosh-Sonu Nigam Team Up, Combine Marwah-Purva With Armenian Duduk!
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One is a master of intricate rhythmic patterns, uncanny tabla skills and out-of-the-box compositions. The other is Bollywood’s reigning king of melody, celebrated for his silky voice and zany sense of music. So what happens when the two maverick artists, Bickram Ghosh and Sonu Nigam decide to create music together? The industry and music buffs wait with bated breath, anticipating a creation that is out-of-this world.

That is precisely what the famed tabla maestro and the hottest Bollywood playback singer have set out to do. Beginning what could soon become Bollywood’s most formidable association, Bickram Ghosh and Sonu Nigam have decided to compose music together. And the first film they are doing is ‘Jal’, co-produced by NFDC and Girish Malik, who is also directing it. The film revolves around the scarcity of water and the resultant problems in Kutch.

The newly formed composer-duo will record the film’s title song with the legendary Shubha Mudgal in the next few days. And interestingly, Sonu has also written the lyrics of the song. In fact, the multi-faceted artist has displayed his command over the written word with the first line of the song, deftly playing on the word 'jal (water) - Jalde, jalde, jaldi jalde, jalne na de, jal hi jal de'!

“The entire song was created in a day,” reveals Bickram, obviously enthusiastic about this new association with Sonu. The rapport between the two apparently goes back to the film 'Gumshuda' for which Bickram had composed the song ‘Dhundo’, sung by Sonu. The bond was strengthened further when the two decided to work on a music album, tentatively titled Heart and Beat. The album, however, still remains incomplete, thanks to the busy schedules of the two top artists. “While working on Gumshuda’s song, Sonu and I exchanged our ideas and felt that we shared the same wavelength. We had a unique chemistry. So we decided to create this album together. And that is what brought us even closer as professionals,” Bickram says. Our current association is the coming together of rhythm and melody,” he adds poetically.

Apparently, working on ‘Jal’ as music composers was Bickram’s idea. “Girish had asked me to compose the music for the film. And as the project moved forward, I thought it would be wonderful to involve Sonu and work on the music together. Besides the fact that he is a mindblowing singer , he is amazingly versatile with melodies and lyrics... We are very comfortable working with eachother and there is a mutual honesty towards music that bonds us" Bickram says. “The title song is a unique composition, for which we have used some haunting ragas like Marwa and Puriya combined with rare musical instruments like the Armenian duduk,” he reveals.

Sonu too seems excited about the association with the tabla virtuoso. “Both Bickram and I share a great relationship as professionals. We understand and admire each other’s strengths and respect them. Bickram mastery over percussion is well known and widely acclaimed. I am also an admirer of his music. He likes whatever I have to offer in terms of melody. The idea, basically, is to do good work, explore new things and exchange unique musical ideas,” says Sonu.

As for their future plans as composers, Bickram appears reluctant to reveal much. “The relationship is building now. We want to do some exciting work together. But nothing has been decided yet. Let us see what the future holds,” is all he is willing to say.