Angarag Mahanta known by his nickname Papon is an Indian singer, composer and record producer
from Assam.
Angaraag once stated in his interview with NDTV Good Times that he wishes to travel worldwide
and perform in various music festivals.
At the same time, he also wants to meet different musicians, be exposed to different forms of
music and collaborate with various talented musicians to create amazing and beautiful
music.
Some of his initial stuffs was widely considered a novelty in the Assamese musical scenario.
It was a blend of East-Indian folk music and Western electronic musical arrangement, enhanced
by atmospheric sounds effects.
In most of these endeavors, he collaborated with the East India Company, of which he is
a founding member.
Early life He was born to the Assamese folk singer couple
Khagen Mahanta and Archana Mahanta.
He spent most of his childhood in Assam and he was introduced to music early on in his
childhood.
Career Papon's initial training was in Indian Classical,
devotional and folk music.
He learnt vocals primarily but also plays the khol, tabla, guitar, and harmonium.
His music covers genres such as ambient electronic, acoustic folk and new age Indian classical
music and it has been identified as having traces of pentatonic Mongoloid notes, local
river song influences and ghazals.
Although his first language is Assamese he has also sung in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Marathi,
Mishing and Bengali.
His latest addition to Bollywood songs is 'Tu' a duet with Shreya Ghoshal in film Bobby
Jasoos.
Just before this was a song called 'Lakeerein' which is a poem by Gulzar from the film Kya
Dilli Kya Lahore.
Before that he sung 'Sun ri Bavli' from Laxmi by Nagesh Kukunoor.
In 2014 only he also had sung two songs 'Sun le re' and 'Khudse' from the movie Madras
Cafe.
He recorded a hit song Kyon for the movie Barfi!.
He has also sang title song from Inkaar.
His first big song in Bollywood was Jiyein kyun from the movie Dum Maro Dum.
Papon released his first album, Junaki Raati in Assamese at the end of 2004, marking a
new kind of regional sound.
The second album he produced was Sinaaki Osinaaki, which was released in November, 2009.
Papon has also sung on a few other albums produced by various artists in Assam.
His first folk music album was Rangphul a Bihu album, after which he produced Gomseng
and subsequently, Phagunor Gaan an album representing the typical holi songs of Barpeta in West
Assam.
He sang on a devotional Borgeet album called "Chandamukhi" and is working on a traditional
folk album of Tokari songs.
On the first edition of Coke Studio @ MTV, he performed on the popular bihu song 'Pak
Pak'.
Papon returned to Coke Studio @ MTV in 2013, and this time around, he produced his very
own episode for the popular show.
This makes Papon the only musician to have grown with Coke Studio @ MTV, having now been
involved in all three seasons of the show.
For his episode on this season of the show, Papon produced 6 songs – 3 brand new compositions
and 3 cross-border folk songs.
In the first season of Coke Studio @ MTV, Papon sang the upbeat song 'Pak Pak', produced
by Leslie Lewis, and in its second season, he produced his own track, the high-spirited
Assamese folk song 'Tokari' and also featured as a vocalist on celebrated musician composer
Nitin Sawhney’s episode singing the beautiful, almost melancholic folk song Sahil Tak.
Papon's work on this season of Coke Studio @ MTV has been critically lauded and videos
of his tracks have received thousands of views on YouTube within a week.
Of the 3 new compositions, 'Tauba', with Benny Dayal, has received close to 700,000 views,
while the Papon solo 'Khumaar' has received over 500,000 views.
'Benaam Khwahishein' has received over 300,000 views.
Papon also reinvented 3 folk songs for his episode of Coke Studio @ MTV.
'Baisara Beera', is a Rajasthani folk song Papon learned from his father; 'Dinae Dinae',
with Harshdeep Kaur, is a beautiful Bhatiali river song from Goalpara in Assam, in the
Sufi tradition, and has received over 450,000 views; and Jhumor, a rousing song of the tea
tribes in Assam.
|imagewikilink =
Band In 2007, Papon formed an electronic folk-fusion
band called Papon and The East India Company.
Their music and their songs have evolved from eastern India, from the lush green fields
of Assam to be precise.
And their music is awash with the native notes of their soil.
Set-up in the backdrop of Assamese folk-lore and culture, Angaraag Mahanta and his band
have been applauded by the masses.
Their music has been said to possess the unique ability to impart peace to the soul, in a
way that the soul echoes with the melody of timeless folk- tunes of Assam.
Angaraag Mahanta and his band have been credited for creating an amazing blend of contemporary
music and folk.
The band consists of Papon on vocals, Brin Desai on live electronics, Jinti on lead guitars,
Kirti on percussion and Dipu on bass and Tanmay on Drums The Six members came from backgrounds
varying from Assamese folk to metal and blues to trip hop.
The band has performed twice at the SAARC Music Band Festival in New Delhi, the Eastwind
Festival and the Kovalam Literary Festival and has performed overseas with Sutasi in
Singapore.
The band took a two year break in the wait for a solo album which released internationally
at the end of 2011.
The band is back in action in November with 4 big festivals in the same month.
They also played at the October Fest in Bangalore, NH7 Weekender fest in Pune and the Rock for
Rights concert in New Delhi.
Earlier their track OMO was taken on by Saregama HMV for release on the compilation album,
The Underground along with a song called Jiya Baittho Jai in an album called Sahibol.
In 2008, their track called Khuda Hota was released by Dada Music an extension of Music
Today.
Personal life He lives in Mumbai with his wife Shweta Mishra
Mahanta and they have two children, a son Puhor and daughter Parijaat.
His father, noted Assamese folk singer, Khagen Mahanta, died on 12 June, 2014.
Collaborations Papon has performed with the MIDIval Punditz
and Karsh Kale at various festivals around the world including the Paléo Music Festival
in Switzerland, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Mosaic Music Festival
in Singapore and Oslo World Music Festival in Norway.
Aside from performing with them, Papon has co-written a couple of songs with the MIDIval
Punditz that featured on their third album Hello Hello which ranked among the top three
songs on Amazon, worldwide.
He collaborated with the Welling Jazz Band, in Wellington, New Zealand, for a project
playing some of his music during Crossings festival held in Wellington, New Zealand in
2007.
Also in the project was Rihan Sheehan, a popular electronic artist and producer from Wellington.
He also wrote a song with Karsh Kale for his new album Cinema.
He is working on two international collaborations which were to be released in 2012.
Papon has featured in albums which carry the labels of MDR Records, in a collaboration
with Times Music, and has also featured in the soundtrack of Bollywood films Dum Maaro
Dum, I Am Kalam, Soundtrack, Patang, and most recently Barfi!.
He also featured on the Indian leg of the show Coke Studio in MTV.
He performed on the show Global Indian Film Awards with Midival Punditz, Kailash Kher
and Shubha Mudgal.
He also appeared on Star world India, Episode six of The Dewarists with Rabbi Shergill and
recorded a song Khule Da Rabb.
Albums As Playback Singer in Films
List of Bollywood and other language film songs recorded by Papon
Nomination Angaraag was nominated twice under the Best
Folk Album category for his two Assamese folk albums Gomseng with Rashmi and Phagunar Gaan
at the GIMA awards 2011.
Awards Papon was bestowed with the best male singer
award in the 'Prag Cine Awards' 2012, for the title song Ramdhenu in the Assamese movie
Raamdhenu.
He was also honored with The Bhupen Hazarika Award in the best male singer category on
27 April 2012.
In 2012, he won the GIMA Awards for Best Pop Album of the Year for his debut Hindi Album,
The Story So Far.
In 2012 only he won the JD Annual Rock Awards for Two categories, The Best Male Voice of
the year and for the Best Song of the year.
References
External links Official website
Angaraag Mahanta at the Internet Movie Database When it rained bands
Song of Dum Maaro Dum