In a breathtaking evening titled Rangaloye Rabi, the brother-sister duo, Prakriti and Pratyush Mukherjee, demonstrated a revolutionary approach to music, marked by a luxuriant tonal quality in which every word emerged with sublime clarity. Their performance was interspersed with Sujoy Prosad Chattopadhyay’s erudite commentaries, which included a section-by-section reading of Tagore's overtures. The event was organised by Sthapana Shantiniketan at Gyan Manch.
Among the highlights were the duo's renditions of "Aami chanchalo hey" and "Gram chara oi" from Tagore's work, Dalia, where they rose above the opera-like harmony to conjure an atmosphere rich with joie de vivre. Their strength lay in an assertive command over vocals with a poignant back-and-forth on key lines, lending the pieces a profound emotional thrust.
Those used to the traditional architecture of "Aaj tomare dekhte elem" got a flickering, criss-cross reinterpretation of the song from Prakriti in a new format. So competent was her singing that even with the change of rhythm in the antaras, she continued with the same verve, masterfully twisting the patterns without a note slipping out of place. Her other soulful offering, sans any music, was "Andhar raate ekla pagol" from Bisarjan (the song, Chattopadhyay informed, was originally sung by Krishna Chandra Dey) that showed graceful transparency. The audience responded with delight on learning that Praktiti put her own music to "Bangladeshe Ghor Amader" (from Dashachakra), shaping the evening into a woozy ambient soundscape.
Pratyush and his robust style created an organic momentum in the duet, "Jawl jawl chita digun digun" (from Sarojini) and the solo, "Bodhu tomaye korbo raja" (from Raja o Rani). His "Joy hok joy hok" from Gora was deftly crafted. The readings by Chattopadhyay were replete with sardonic humour and had an element of dramatic urgency. His bucolic storytelling expression served as an engaging prelude to the music.
Credit is also due to the three accompanying musicians — Surajit Das, Ritam Bagchi, and Subhash Pal — whose contributions on keyboards, tabla/khol and esraj blended seamlessly with the theme. The evening began with some inspiring words by the theatre legend, Arun Mukherjee, and the educationist, Pabitra Sarkar.