Darjeeling, May 13: In the early part of 1970, a youth from the hill town made his way to Mumbai with only his madal (a traditional Nepali drum) company.

More than three decades later, Ranjit Gazmer made a triumphal return to his hometown, this time as the music director of a Nepali album.

“I am here to direct a music album with three budding singers, who had won the annual competition organised by Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan, a social organisation, last year. The engagement provided me with an opportunity to visit my roots,” Gazmer told The Telegraph, before leaving for Mumbai on Friday. He was in the hill town for nearly a month for the project.

Credited with introducing the madal in Bollywood music circles, the 66-year-old musician’s foray into tinsel town could itself provide the plot for a Hindi potboiler. “I was introduced to R.D. Burman by an acquaintance Manohari Singh. I had taken my madal with me and he asked me to play it on the spot,” he recalls.

It was Burman, who gave the hill youth his first break in Hindi films, in the Hindi blockbuster Hare Rama Hare Krishna, whose story was based in Nepal, and Gazmer seemed just right.

Gazmer is currently working as a freelance madal player and has been associated with composers like Jatin-Lalit, Ismail Durbar and Adnan Sami.