In a career spanning more than thirty years, composer Nikhil Kamath has dabbled in a variety of genres. However, there were a few genres that the composer wanted to try his hand at for a long time but did not get the right opportunities. Nikhil, for instance, always had the wish to compose a song revolving around ‘Chat Puja’. His wish has finally come true with ‘Chhath 2022’, a song on Chhath Puja.
Talking about the recently released song, Nikhil says, “I always wanted to make a song on ‘Chat Puja’. Getting the opportunity to compose a song on Chhath Puja was a blessing. Although I grew up in Mumbai, I got to know about Chat Puja as Vinay and I worked on several Bhojpuri films. We even won an award for our Bhojpuri film ‘Kab Hoi Gawna Hamaar’. Because of my interaction with several producers and directors from Bihar and working on so many Bhojpuri films, we became familiarized with Chat Puja.”
Chhath Puja is a Hindu festival that is primarily celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. While Nikhil has composed ‘Chhath 2022’, it has been written by Dr. Sagar. The song has been produced by Nitin Neera Chandra and Neetu Chandra. The video has been directed by Nitin Neera Chandra. The song has been rendered by Sunidhi Chauhan.
“Neetu wanted to produce a song on Chhath Puja. Even before all of us got together to work on it, she was very keen on Sunidhi Chauhan singing it. Her friend Pritam Sharma, who is a renowned publicist, suggested that I should be given the responsibility to compose the song. I spoke to Neetu and Nitin. I met Nitin at a coffee shop. While we were discussing a few ideas, a tune came to my mind organically and I started humming it. Nitin really liked and decided that we would make a song out of it. I had a great time working with Nitin and Neetu. Through the online platform Bejod, they have been taking several initiatives to promote the culture of Bihar. It’s highly inspiring to see them promoting the culture of their motherland so passionately”, says Nikhil.
The song marks the first collaboration between Nikhil and Dr. Sagar. Once the tune was locked, the producers shared it with Dr. Sagar and he wrote the lyrics for it. Nikhil and Dr. Sagar met for the first time when the recording was scheduled in a studio in Mumbai. Dr. Sagar has written for films like ‘Daas Dev’, ‘Music School’ and ‘Setters’ and for non-film singles like ‘Bambai Main Ka Ba’ (Manoj Bajpayee).
Elaborating on this, Nikhil says, “Dr. Sagar is one of the most talented lyricists I have worked with. He wrote the song beautifully and did complete justice to the theme of Chhath Puja. It also happens to be the first song on Chhath Puja sung by Sunidhi. She just heard the scratch and decided to be a part of this song. She was wanting to sing a Chhath Puja song for a long time. Before she arrived in the studio, she had rehearsed the song several times and fully prepared to sing it.”