The captivating connect between Bob Dylan and Rabindranath Tagore was the subject of a rare music session at Akar Prakar that was heralded by the father-daughter duo, Souvik and Aishani Misra. Interweaving the flow of genres, music and visuals with sardonic humour was Steve Frank, the anchor for the evening.
The duo began with “Mr Tambourine Man”, which was later rendered solo by Souvik. His standout moment came in the song, “I believe in you”, which was dazzlingly buoyant and lingered in the listener’s mind. With powerful vignettes of war, he brought in an element of sweet melancholy to ensure that the threads of the song sat easily with the audience. Of the few Tagore numbers he sang, “Mono mor meghero” had a balmy effect in its brisker pace and mellifluous guitar runs. Aishani tackled a few Rabindrasangeets like “Tumi kemon kore gaan” and “Amar praner manush”. She let her melismatic vocals meander over the lyrics, and, only on few occasions, did the tail ends suffer. But she kept a deft handle on “Sakatare oi” in tandem with Dylan’s spiritual songs and “O amaar desher maati”.