Singer Papon invites Big B to Assam

Mumbai, March 22 (IANS) Assamese singer Papon, who has sung a song on the Brahmaputra river with Amitabh Bachchan, has invited the Bollywood megastar to visit Assam soon.

Papon, whose real name is Angaraag Mahanta, has composed an anthem for the debut edition of Namami Brahmaputra -- a river festival. The song has been voiced by celebrities like Amitabh, Arijit Singh, and Vishal-Shekhar.

Papon tweeted: "Humbled by your gestures my lovely music fraternity and Amitabh ji. Please come to Assam soon. Forever grateful!"

The five-day festival, which will be held from March 31 to April 4, will celebrate Assam's art, heritage and culture.

The festival anthem, called "Namami Brahmaputra", was released by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati on Wednesday. Documentary filmmaker Parasher Baruah has directed the video.

Papon, who has made a place for himself in Bollywood with his heartwarming tracks like "Jiyein kyun", "Kyun", "Zindagi aisi waisi" and "Kaun mera", says he wanted the song to have a quintessential Assamese flavour.

"Like the mighty and grand Brahmaputra, I wanted the song to reflect those qualities. Consciously, I also wanted to showcase the Vaishnavite classical music system and used 'bol' using the khol (drum-like instrument made of terracotta, usually played to accompany devotional music)," Papon said in a statement.

It was Papon's idea to involve Bollywood celebrities in the initiative.

He said: "The government asked me to compose the theme song for the festival that celebrates Brahmaputra and since the objective of the festival is to showcase Assam, I felt that if the song was sung by singers from all over the country, it would have a wider reach."

"For the Assamese version, I have worked with a generation of singers starting with my mother Archana Mahanta, who is 70, to Rupam Bhuyan who is the youngest of the lot," says the singer and composer, who won multiple accolades for his rendition of "Moh moh ke dhaage".