Sometimes, songs don’t get the critical acclaim they deserve because they don’t fit current “social media trends”. When Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Baazar released on Netflix, Bibboojan’s ‘Gaja Gamini Walk’ and Alamzeb’s “Ek Baar Dekh Lijiye” caused quite a stir on the Internet, taking away attention from the masterpiece Nazariya Ki Maari sung by Madhubanti Bagchi. The soundtrack is the sangam of the classical ragas, preserving the purity of a Thumri with a simple tune of harmonium and a tabla. Bagchi, in an interview to indianexpress.com, opens up on the simplicity of Nazariya Ki Maari and why it is being tagged as one of the most underrated songs of Heeramandi, amid the well-deserved applause from connoisseurs of music. “I feel the other songs mostly had elaborate dance sequences with them which Nazariya didn’t have. And that too, in a very comical way,” she says. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Madhubanti Bagchi (@bagchi_mb) “Initially, it was a little difficult for people to immediately accept it. It is not one of the things that you will instantly pick up. It took its time. But I feel that as time went by and people were going through all the songs of the series, the appeal of Nazariya kind of grew on them. Because it has purity. It is not very palatable for an untrained ear. It takes you a while to understand the purity and the sadagi of classical music,” the singer explains. For those coming late to the story, Bagchi has also crooned Ek Kahani from the popular Prime series “Panchayat” season 3. Proving her versatility with different genres, the singer is winning plaudits on social media. Speaking of the love she has been receiving, she says, “Our audience has picked and chosen exactly what they want. There are lots of people who have watched both Heeramandi and Panchayat and they have loved both the series and the music. And so, as artists, it’s a great time for us that our audience and our viewers, they’re all ready for such a diverse bandwidth of music.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by TVF | The Viral Fever (@theviralfever) Bagchi, who began her singing career in Bengali cinema, believes she got her dues early compared to well-deserved artists who struggled for years to make it big in Mumbai. Reflecting on her work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, she says, “I came to Mumbai in 2018. Then Covid messed up the entire scenario in 2021. But, I feel that I got my dues pretty early. Some people have been in Mumbai struggling and trying to get work for far more than 15-20 years. And they still don’t get their due.” “During Covid, I got a call from Bhansali sir, which was within two years of me coming to Mumbai. That’s a ridiculous dream. Nobody gets this kind of opportunity. I came (to Mumbai) without any reference, without anything. I just came blindly because I wanted to check out what the scene was,” Bagchi adds. Asked if maintaining a social media presence is adding pressure, Bagchi says, “I feel that I and a lot of my friends are very introverted people. I usually don’t go to parties unless it’s like my core group of friends. And I mean I do enjoy social media. But I don’t like when people put a proper schedule that you have to put this number of videos every week and go live this number of days and do all of that. So that stresses me out because we were not born out of social media. The audience gets used to the person you are if they’re really appreciative of the music you’re making.” One of the most recent possibilities of the digital age, often tagged as a threat to many professions, is artificial intelligence (AI). The use of AI has ballooned in the past few years. Music composers and engineers use AI to create songs, convincing music lovers of anything. However, Bagchi believes the audience always “craves” the human elements in music, demanding skilled artists. “I feel that the more synthetic elements you put into music, the audience will go or crave more and more human elements. AI cannot copy Lucky Ali’s voice or Arijit’s (Singh) voice. They can just copy the tone. Look at the number of concerts that are happening around the world and huge concerts. I don’t think AI is very threatening. You can use it to kind of reduce your workload,” she says. Another growing trend in the music industry is remakes. From Karan Johar recreating the iconic Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s Dekha Tenu Pehli Pehli Baar Ve for Mr and Mrs Maahi to Tanishk Bagchi reprising Raveena Tandon’s cult song Tip Tip Barsa Pani for Katrina Kaif in Sooryavanshi, Bollywood has glorified the remakes. Bagchi, who performed the “chill house” version of SD Burman’s Shono Go Dakhin Hawa for Coke Studio Bangla, says, “Recreation means it is a complete flip of the dimension. I did this in Coke Studio Bangla. It should be better than or at least it should be better than the original version which is very difficult to achieve because those are absolutely legendary. I feel that people shouldn’t do it because you need content. But it will not last in people’s minds like that.” After working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Nazariya Ki Maari and winning hearts with Ek Kahani in Panchayat season 3, Bagchi dreams of working with the legendary A R Rahman. “Rahman sir would be such a name off the bucket list. (Earlier) I didn’t even know what Roja was about but all I could remember was the music,” the singer says. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Madhubanti Bagchi (@bagchi_mb) A former engineer, Bagchi grew up idolising ‘Mallika-e-Ghazal’ Begum Akhtar. “I drew a lot of inspiration from women especially because, as everybody knows, it gets tough for women at times. Like, really tough. So, women who have actually reached the top, even after going through a lot are the MVPs (most valued players).”
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