Singer Aditi Munshi has time and again proved her grasp and knowledge of Kirtan and devotional songs. She is one of the very first in her generation to make an exemplary mark taking Kirtan to places. Her latest project Baro Gaane Borshojapon is a first-of-its-kinds with music composers and lyricists creating original devotional compositions. As the song for August, Sajao Jhulona releases today, we speak to the soft-spoken singer to know more about the project.
Tell us more about Baro Gaane Borshojapon.
In this project, on the 12th of every month, Sangitam Cultural Academy is releasing a devotional song. We approached renowned musicians like Indraadip Dasgupta, Soumya Bose, Prattyush Banerjee, Debojyoti Mishra, Joy Sarkar and others. They obliged to my demands. It is the Jhulan festival this month, so we released Sajao Jhulona today, the fourth song of the series. It is an original composition on Lord Krishna and Radha, written by Barish, composed by Ranajoy Bhattacharjee, and sung by me. It was a challenge for both of them too, since they work in completely different genres, but we thoroughly enjoyed the experience of making this song.
How are you choosing which song will be released in which month?
For Bengalis, it has always been baaro maashe tero parbon (13 festivals in 12 months), and every month there is some festival or the other. August has Jhulan, September has Janmashtami, there is Durga Puja in October, and so on. So, it’s not difficult at all to choose. Probably, we’ll have more issues if there’s more than one festival in a month.
You have always been singing devotional or folk songs. Do you want to explore other genres as well?
I have an innate love towards Bengali music and songs in general. I grew up listening to Rabindrasangeet and Puratani songs mostly, and since there is this environment of rituals and regular prayers at home, naturally I was inclined towards devotional songs. During my class 10 exams, I had to study and learn about Padabali Kirtan. That was my acquaintance with that genre, and by now it has become my identity. And the genre is so vast, that I am not sure if I will be able to explore even this genre fully in my entire life!
What other things are keeping you busy, apart from this project?
We are planning to do a podcast, where we will do kind of a myth-busting or discussion on mythical ideas. For example, we often consider Narada to be the one who raises problems and is seen from a very negative angle. But in reality, it is not such, and discussions are on these lines.
Sajao Jhulona and other songs of this project are streaming across YouTube and all other audio platforms.