In the year 2000, Supratiek Ghosh laid the foundation of his band Aurko. Last year, the band celebrated 25 years of its existence. In the last few months, one saw the band release a variety of tracks. Apart from performing extensively with his band, Supratiek has steadily carved out a distinctive identity for Alive India, a company formed by him which empowers new artists.
A couple of weeks ago, Alive India released a very special track in the form of ‘Beetein Saare Pal’. Sung by Zubeen Garg, this track was designed as a tribute to KK. By the time, this song came out, Zubeen, too, had left for his heavenly abode. As a close friend of Zubeen, Supratiek shared several memorable moments with him over the years.
In this interview, Supratiek shares some special memories of Zubeen which are close to his heart, bond with KK, the 25-year-long journey of Aurko, initiatives by Alive India, plans for the future and more.
How did ‘Beetein Saare Pal’ happen?
We made this song a while back as a tribute to KK. KK was very special for all of us. I would have never imagined that by the time this song comes out, Zubeen would have left us too. This song would be special for everybody who has loved KK and Zubeen’s music. We released the song in Kolkata last year in November in association with the Kanchenjunga Foundation and the Zubeen Garg Fan Club. It was a very emotional moment for all of us.
A lot of people came together to make this song happen.
Yes! Zubeen was one of the four pillars of Alive India. He was, in a way, its brand ambassador. The other key people associated with Alive India were KK, Kunal Ganjawala and I. First KK left us and then, we lost Zubeen.
Zubeen and I thought of making a song as a tribute to KK. ‘Beetein Saare Pal’ has been composed and written by Bishwajeet Chauhan who was the drummer in KK’s band. The song is very different from anything Zubeen had sung in the past. It has a falsetto portion in it. Despite it being it a very different song for him, Zubeen sang it in one take. When Zubeen passed away, we realized the significance of time. This is the last Hindi song recorded by Zubeen. This was his tribute to KK and a gift to Alive India. We could not give Zubeen anything financially. We could only give him our love and respect. He gave us a lot.
Zubeen had performed with Aurko many a times. He would not bring his band. He would perform with our band members. During rehearsals, he would crack jokes all the time. Zubeen and I were similar in many ways. Sometimes, he would be wearing a red shoe in one leg and a blue shoe in another. I would be wearing socks in one leg and the other leg would be devoid of socks (laughs). Both of us were crazy. Maybe, that’s why we got along so well. For 15 years, we made a lot of music and some wonderful memories together.
Which is that one quality in Zubeen that you admired the most?
He was a non-pretentious person. He would always be ready to help others. He used to hate capitalists. He used to call himself a social capitalist. With Zubeen, what you see is what you get. If he liked you, he would do anything for you. He did not like pretentious people. He liked roaming around with his friends. However, deep down, he was a lonely person.
Why do you say he was lonely?
His mother passed away very early. His sister Jongki passed away in a road accident. Zubeen was travelling with her in a car. He shifted to another car after a while. He felt very guilty about this. That guilt stayed with him all his life. He was treated like a king in seven states. However, Bollywood did not give him his due. We felt bad about it. However, this was something he did not care about. He was beyond all this. He released more than 40,000 songs. He remained close to his roots all his life. He would do Bihu shows all the time. Though he was not the most disciplined person, he did so much work. You will not see a glimpse of his indiscipline in any of his songs. He excelled in several genres including semi-classical, folk, pop and rock. Kishore Kumar was his God. After Kishore da, his favourite singer was KK. ‘Beetein Saare Pal’ was very close to his heart.
When Zubeen passed away in September last year, lakhs of people came forward to pay their respects. This seemed to be a reflection of the kind of person Zubeen was and the life he lived. He was known for helping others and contributing to the society.
He would not do things out of any social or moral obligation. It was his way of life. This was who he was. He was one in a trillion. We will never see him somebody like Zubeen again. Apart from being a brilliant artist, he was a humanitarian. He could play twelve instruments. He was a singer, composer, writer, director, producer and actor. He would sleep throughout the day, wake up in the evening and then, create magic with his art. He was somebody who always lived live on his own terms. Zubeen was beparwah. He treated everybody with respect but would never bow down in front of anyone.
‘Beetein Saare Pal’ has been released by Alive India which is a company and initiative spearheaded by you.
It is the first artist-funded, artist-led, 36-degree platform. We have done tours across the world. The name came from our band. Aurko Live became Alive. We are trying to change lives through music. We believe in the Sun God which stands for life and vitality. We are making music all the time. We have performed with several artists including (K. S.) Chithra ji, Shreya (Ghoshal) and Sunidhi (Chauhan).
You have had a long journey in music.
Back in the day, I had come on board as a replacement for Kumar Sanu for T-Series. I worked with them for 7 months. They had auditioned more than 5,000 voices to sing covers of Kishore Kumar songs. This happened around 1986-87. I was 17-18 years of age then. I participated and won several music reality shows like’ Antakshari’, ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ and ‘Meri Aawaz Suno’. I had a full-time job in advertising. At the age of 30, I became the national head of a leading advertising agency. My company supported me in my musical endeavours and provided me with leaves whenever I needed to participate in a TV program or do shows.
Your father Shyamal Ghosh was a filmmaker.
Yes! He worked as an assistant director on films like ‘Do Bigha Zamin’ (1953) and ‘Balika Vadhu’ (1976). We used to live in Bhawanipur in Kolkata. Several artists, including Kishore Kumar, Geeta Dutt and Biswajeet, used to visit our house regularly.
‘Beetein Saare Pal’ was a tribute to KK. What kind of bond did you share with him?
After KK passed away, we organized a show called ‘Sing for KK’ as a tribute to him. Jyoti bhabhi (KK’s wife), Mehboob bhai, Lucky Ali, Kunal Ganjawala and several other artists attended it. More than 10,000 people turned up for the show. We organized the show a couple of times more. KK was a brother to me. Once he drove all the way from Mumbai to Pune to perform with us. He would always make sure we did not spend any money when he performed with us.
All these years, you did so much work in music. Are there any regrets?
There are no regrets but I definitely know that I could have done a lot more. My advertising job took up a lot of my time. My father passed away at an early age. I had responsibilities on my shoulders. It was not possible for me to give all my time to music back then. However, it has always remained an integral part of my life.
I will always be grateful to T-Series. When I started out, I was doing a four shows a day. I would charge Rs. 500 for each show (laughs). I was just happy to be on the stage and perform in front of an audience.
What are some of the key initiatives you have launched under Alive India?
We have been running a campaign called ‘Sing To Save’. As I mentioned earlier, we are trying to change lives through music. I have been performing with my band for 25 years now. We have been investing our hard-earned money in Alive India. I, along with my family, live in a 2 BHK apartment in Bengaluru. My son grew up there.
I built a 6 and a half floor studio. After a point, I gave it away so that others could use it. 19 musicians live in the studio today. One of them is Nibedita Pradhan, a vertically-challenged girl who met me at a concert two years ago. She wanted to make a career in music but had nowhere to go. The next day, she moved to the studio. She can sing in 20 languages. Such talented artists are not getting any support from the industry. We are investing in them as we believe in their talent.
Bishwajeet Chauhan, who was a drummer in KK’s band and composed ‘Beetein Saare Pal’, is from Dhanbad. There is a videographer from Maharashtra and a music producer from Kerala. Our society, in a way, is mini-India (laughs)! People eat, live and make music together. We have a dedicated floor for shoots. Many prominent artists from Mumbai and other parts of the country have shot here. This is one of our revenue streams. We invest all this money in making music and supporting artists. The government should launch initiatives to support these artists. Our tagline is roti, kapda, makaan, music aur rozgaar.
‘Nadiyaa’, the album which Aurko came up with in 2006, had become very popular. It was released by Times Music. The title track was an ode to Kolkata. My favourite song from the album was ‘Puche Yeh Dil Se’.
I remember Times Music being very happy with the sales of the album. We had a great time shooting for the music videos. The music video of ‘Puche Yeh Dil Se’ featured Nakuul Mehta and Sampada Vaze. It was about a modern relationship and featured cellphones. In a way, the music video was ahead of its time. I feel very happy about the fact that Aurko has been around for more than 25 years now. We formed the band on 15th August, 2000. The band completed 25 years of its existence last year.
What are you doing next?
We are ready with more than a 100 songs. We are raising funds so that we can release, distribute and market them properly. I have a lot of plans for Alive India. We want to grow so that we can help others grow.