World Music Day: Composer, lyricist and singer Anupam Roy loves to pour his heart out in his songs
Reaching the zenith of popularity and holding on to it for over a decade and a half is no easy job. But looking at singer-songwriter and composer Anupam Roy, it might seem like a cakewalk. A rare combination of good looks and humility, Anupam has never taken his fame seriously and keeps writing and composing songs that express his deepest, innermost feelings. As his song, Ajogya Ami, from the recently released film Ajogya, busts the music charts, Anupam shares his reflection on music and more in this World Music Day special chat.
What does World Music Day mean to you?
I feel everyone loves music, even those living on other planets, it’s something everybody can connect with and bond over. Hence keeping a separate day to celebrate music is a great idea.
What’s music to you?
It’s the only way known to me for expressing my core emotion, a tool to express my deepest feelings.
How did music happen to you?
It came unknowingly and was instilled organically into my subconscious. Music was everywhere around me – my mother used to sing me to sleep when I was a child, my parents used to listen to all kinds of songs, be it Suchitra Mitra, Kanika Bandyopadhyay, Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar or Lata Mangeshkar, in our school bus cassettes used to be played, and in neighbourhoods music used to blare from speakers during any occasions exposing us to all kinds of music.
So, I grew up around music like any other child of my generation. But my musical calling was different. It was shaped during my formative years as a teenager, when I started to listen to songwriter-singers like Silajit, Anjan Dutt, Kabir Suman and Nachiketa. It was then that I realised I wanted to be a musician. I was always interested in what they were trying to say through their songs. The lyrics were always important to me from a very young age.
Lessons you picked up in your musical journey?
Initially, when I had my first few live performances, I was scared to and the thought of performing at a stretch and keeping the audiences engaged, made me nervous. I was 28 then and already had a packed audience to listen to me post my super successful debut song (Amake Amar Mato Thakte Dao) in the film Autograph. I progressively got a hang of live shows with practice and advice from others.
You had no formal training, how did you develop yourself musically?
I am still a learner. I used to take lessons in classical music on and off. When I was in Bangalore I took lessons form Nibedita Dutta and now, for the past 12 years at a stretch I am learning it from Pratyush Banerjee.
What inspires you?
Mainly life and a few small and big incidents. Abstraction, paintings, movies, different musicians and their compositions – all inspire me.
How is the growth in the music industry here?
The scope is definitely here and it depends upon which stage of career you are in. If you are fresh in the industry with no opportunity, then even a small scope is huge. But with time, as you grow as an artiste, the growth gets stunted, which is kind of demotivating. For example, all my songs from Ardhangini were superhit, but did any producer come to me and offer more money to compose for their films? With a lack of budget, things don’t move beyond a certain point in Bengal which is very disconcerting.
Do you ever fear that someday the spotlight mightn’t be on you anymore?
The Covid has already taught me that there will be months when I won’t be getting any shows. I feel that’s life, everything has a shelf life including fame. I don’t have much expectations and I am very content with whatever I have achieved so far.
What do you do on one of those days when creativity is not at its best?
It often happens that your head is blank after writing or composing a song, or there are times when no matter how hard you try, you just can’t come up with a nice tune. During those periods and times when I have no work, I love to write poems or stories. I have already published four poetry books, three graphic novels, 3-4 collections of short stories in Bengali. I also write columns in various publications and writing is definitely an alternative outlet of creativity.
Your current playlist?
Eurythmics and Silajit’s album Fis Fis.
Upcoming projects?
This year, so far, I composed for films like Alaap and Ajogya and then there is Srijit Mukherji’s Tekka, Shiboprosad Mukherjee’s Amar Boss, and Bohurupi, Sayantan Ghosal’s Madam Sengupta and another film by Kamaleswar Mukherjee. Also, there will be a single from my band The Anupam Roy Band.
Pictures: Debarshi Sarkar / Styling: Poulami Gupta / Kurta by Dev R Nil, jacket and pants by INTO / Hair and makeup: Surojit Sarkar / Location courtesy: Trincas