Pankh/ Kaushiki Chakraborty & Shantanu Moitra

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Kaushiki Chakraborty & Shantanu Moitra/ Pankh

Genre: Indie

Label: Blue Dot

Rating: *****

Just a week ago, singer Kaushiki Chakraborty and music director Shantanu Moitra had dazzled the audience at Mumbai's Royal Opera House at the launch concert of their album Pankh. The same night, the six-part web series describing the six songs was put up on YouTube.

While we've known Kaushiki as one of the leading Hindustani classical vocalists of her generation, Pankh sees her taking a virtual flight in a different direction. Though she has done songs like 'Lagi Lagi' on Coke Studio 2012 and 'Bhagirathi' in the 2022 series Songs Of The River: Ganga with Shantanu earlier, this is a complete set of wonderfully created songs by the duo. She had earlier done the album Karvaan in 2015, but Pankh has a totally different approach in terms of content and style. A good chunk of it draws from personal experiences.

As an album, Pankh moves almost like the unfolding of a raag. The first three songs are soulful and filled with melody. Then the tempo increases gradually, to reach a finale with a foot-tapping, energy-packed number. With contributions by four lyricists, including Kaushiki herself, there is a balanced assortment of styles. And when you watch the web series, produced by Kaushiki and directed by Shantanu, so many other things come into the picture, like the ideas and stories behind the songs, how they were created and recorded, the singer's association with those who inspired them, the composer's vision and desire to experiment, and some fun facts.

On the first song 'Baithi Hoon', Kaushiki makes her debut as a lyricist. It is inspired by an incident when Shantanu visited a poet's house in Kashmir, and was puzzled when an elderly lady kept staring at him. He later discovered she is the poet's wife, and she kept waiting for their son who went missing many years ago. The words begin, "Baithi hoon main, nain bichaaye, raah takey naina, shaam dhaley aana, raat chaley aana". Piano, acoustic guitar and violin embellish the song.

The next three songs are personal for Kaushiki. 'Nayi Bhor' is a compositional marvel, beginning with a mantra and a Bengali passage, followed by Hindi lines paying tribute to her guru Pt Jnan Prakash Ghosh, tabla maestros Zakir Hussain and Shubhankar Banerjee, and vocalist Rashid Khan. The keyboards, flute and percussion are used marvelously, the choral finale gives gooseflesh, and Abhipsha Deb's words pay appropriate homage.

'Mere Suron Mein' is a duet with her father, classical maestro Pt Ajay Chakraborty. It starts with a throwback recording of a young Kaushiki learning. Tanveer Ghazi's lyrics talk of gratitude, with the line, "Jo mein gaaoon, sunaaoon, woh sab hai tumse". The sarod and sitar are interwoven smoothly.

From her father, Kaushiki moves on to her son Rishith, whom she describes as her friend. Written by Swanand Kirkire, 'Chaand Sakha Re' begins with rhythmic syllables and a folk chant, with words that use the moon as a motif, with references of nature and childhood. The children's chorus is vibrant.

Next, there's the offbeat jazz-inspired 'Kyon Aise Rehti Hai', where Tanveer writes "Dard ko tu marham bana, saans ko sargam bana". The sudden chord changes and tempo switches arr reminiscent of Salil Chowdhury's style, though because of its structural complexity, this piece may take time to grow on listeners.

The final song 'Tarana' is a unique, uptempo number blending classical tarana notes and sargams with word lyrics. Kaushiki and Abhipsha combine to write, "Ta na na na dhim ta na dere tana dhire na, sun gaaye gun gun tarana yeh man mastana, ta na dhire na, chhandon ki sargam fasaana likhey anjaana". The piece brims with joy and happiness, and one just sways to the groove.

Such compositions naturally require a large ensemble, and there are fantastic inputs by all musicians, with keyboardist Rahul Wadhwani and guitarist Rickraj Nath overseeing arrangements. The parts played by various instruments have been apportioned with a lot of thought.

In the web series, each episode is dedicated to one song. There's a mix of black n white shots of nostalgia-filled interviews, and colour footage showing the creation of songs or activities like a visit to a beach or a cycle ride in rich natural surroundings. There's the occasional humour too, specially when Kaushiki talks of her performance in her school geography test. The last frame is a sweet surprise.

Though on its own, Pankh works effectively as an album listening experience, one would suggest that one watches the web series too. It's a more structured and informative way of explaining one's thoughts and creation, instead of having the kind of random reels that otherwise bombard social media. Needless to say, the singing is consistently brilliant, and aided by the charming compositions, Pankh takes listeners on a joyous flight of melody.