Social media, especially Twitter has been abuzz with praises for the unique recital - Once Upon a Time in 2020 | Meri Aavya. The composition by Sundeep Bhutoria, with lines penned by Neelam Muntashir and composed by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt with son Saurabh is an imagined reassurance from a father to his daughter. It vouches for keeping hope intact during the troubled post-pandemic era.
Sundeep says, he was inspired by the British artiste Tomos Roberts - better known by the moniker Probably Tomfoolery - who wrote The Great Realisation. It touched millions of hearts worldwide. “I hoped to make a positive future seem more tangible. We are living in an unprecedented time with darkness looming on us and hence wanted to look at the optimistic angle to this situation and instil hope in my daughter as well as her generation and to our society that this pandemic too shall pass,” shares the Kolkata-based artiste known for promoting talent in literature, fine arts, folk and traditional art, film and various social causes ranging from the education of underprivileged children to women’s empowerment to the preservation of Indian folk culture.
Sundeep decided to collaborate with friends for this project. “Padma Bhusan awardee Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and I work together in a cultural organisation. When I discussed the idea with him, he said he would be glad to compose the music. Soon he was on board with his son,” shares Sundeep. He later approached Neelam Muntashir to help with the najm of his concept. (Nazm is a portion of Urdu poetry, usually written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose style poems.)
The recital is now available on YouTube.