The year 2021 was action-packed for tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh. We saw the energetic composer release his much-awaited album, Ishq, in collaboration with Bollywood singer Hariharan. The album was released in parts and featured leading Tollywood heroines. Then, later this year, he also launched a special Puja album featuring popular Bollywood singers like Zubin Garg and Sona Mohapatra among others. And the year ended on a happy note with the film Avijatrik releasing in the theatres, featuring his music and compositions.
“It was an action-packed year for me but unfortunately, shows were not happening and that gave me more space to work on content creation. So yes, I did complete Ishq and I also released a Puja track. I have also ten more songs which are ready for release, all sung by top singers,” says Ghosh, who admits that though it was a highly satisfying year he missed being on stage. Ghosh also believes that social media is an important tool to proliferate work. “In the absence of the physical platforms, the virtual ones, whether social media platforms or audio-video streaming platforms, all grew in terms of impact. I have a professional team taking care of my social media accounts but at times, I personally post as well,” he tells us.
Ghosh refrains from putting up personal posts on social media as he wants to keep the trolls at bay. Also, he believes that if someone wants to grow a steady fan base, projecting one’s work is more important than displaying one’s personal life. Asked if he will indulge in digital initiatives even when the world returns to normalcy, Ghosh emphasises that it would be a dual world we would inhabit in with digital and physical formats playing equally important roles. “I don’t think we will actually ever go back to the original order which was majorly a physical one. I strongly believe that offline and online will now coexist. We will now be doing both physical and digital shows. In fact, I had predicted this ‘phygital’ thing much earlier. However, as the physical space opens up, the balance will tilt a little towards the stage shows which are of course what we enjoy doing the most. But the virtual shows are not going anywhere,” avers Ghosh, whose much-awaited Hindi film debut in Girish Mallick’s Band of Maharajas might happen in 2022.