A walk down memory lane with the making of ‘Abar Bochhor Koori Pore’s’ music album

Director Srimanta Senguptta’s film Abar Bochhor Koori Pore is all set to release in theatres today. Much like the trailer, the film’s music album also takes us through a nostalgic journey of love and friendship. On the grand release of the album’s fifth song Alor Shohor sung by Rupam Islam, at Trapeze Kolkata’s rooftop earlier this month, The Telegraph sat down with the members of team Abar Bochhor Koori Pore to decode the film’s music-making journey.

THE BEGINNING OF THE MAKING

Both director Srimanta Senguptta and music director Ranajoy Bhattacharjee live in Bombay and their shared nostalgia for Kolkata got them on the same page to ideate the music album for the film Abar Bochchor Koori Pore. “Ranajoy and I have one thing in common that is our nostalgia for Kolkata. We had decided that we would choose such singers to sing the songs in the film whose songs we grew up listening to. We wanted songs that would remind us of old friendships, romance and romance mixed with friendship,” said Srimanta. The film’s name inevitably reminds one of the cult album — Moheener Ghoraguli’s Aabaar Bochhor Kuri Pore. “Though we have not used any songs from that but we knew that we had to be very careful with the music album of this film because of its name. We can’t make some thing that no one notices,” added Srimanta.

The work on the film’s music had started way before the script was prepared, revealed Srimanta. “The music of this film started long back. We both stay in Bombay and started working on it there itself, even before I wrote the script. We had first planned three songs for the film but then we increased it to four and five though we did not have any situation in mind for using these songs back then,” said Srimanta. He shared an anecdote from the making of the song Ador by Anindya Chatterjee, “I had worked with Anindya da before. Once I met him at a cafe in Kolkata and he saw me and recognised me immediately. I told him about the film and asked him with much courage if he could write a song for my first film and Anindyada being Anindya da agreed and the plan was made instantly and then he wrote the song.”

DECODING THE ALBUM WITH THE MAN AT THE MAST

Ranajoy Bhattacharjee, the music director of the film, decoded each song in the film’s music album for The Telegraph:

Alor Shohor sung by Rupam Islam is an intensely emotional song and very anthemic. When we started working on the music, we thought it must have a signature sound. The film is about nostalgia, so we thought of adding a nostalgic touch to the music too. We wanted the kind of nostalgia in the music that we grew up listening to 20 or 25 years ago. The people, whose songs are part of our childhood memories and growing up years, we tried to incorporate such people in the album. Apart from the film, it is a complete music album on its own. It is very close to my heart.

The overall message of the film gets delivered through its title track Abar Bochhor Koori Pore. In this song Rupankar Bagchi’s voice takes us back to the same places where memories were made. It is full of nostalgia. Rupankarda is my favourite singer. I had to keep this song for him.

The song Ador is a love song. There is only one love song. Srimanta’s brief  was that this song should remind us of the innocent romance of the ’90s kids. We decided to approach Anindyada for the song and asked him if he could sing it too. The kind of song we get from Anindyada and Chandrabindoo, we wanted a similar feel for this song.

Dekha Hoye Jay is a romantic song and the only song on separation in the film. It mirrors the sadness of unfulfilled romance. I felt it would be great if this is sung duet. The male voice was mine and we wanted a sweet voice for the female for which we selected Anwesshaa .

Bondhu is a friendship song and written based on that. It is very emotional. Looking back at old friendships, revisiting and recreating those emotions. We wanted Sidhuda and Potada for this —  the friendship they share, the contribution Cactus made. This no one could do other than them. The female reprise version of this is sung by Shaoni Mojumdar. Both Sidhuda and Potada were excited for this song. Lagnajita Chakraborty sang the reprise version of Ador. It is a huge thing for me that I could bring all of them together for this album. It is a nostalgic moment recording these songs with them.

PLAYBACK PROCESS

“I loved the lyrics, music and arrangement of the song Alor Shohor. After the long hiatus of the pandemic, through this song I resumed playback singing. Playback singing for me is very technical and not emotional, but the audience should have some emotions playing in their mind while they listen to the song. That is always my aim,” said Rupam Islam.

PREP UP

“After I sang the female version in the song Bondhu with Sidhu da and Pota da, Ranajoy approached me for the reprise in an acoustic version. This song has so much nostalgia associated with it that I am seeing it as a friendship anthem. It was a challenge to portray the emotions in this song as each sentence conveys a deep meaning. I listened to this song for one whole day and Ranajoy’s scratch version to realise how I would react in that situation,” said Shaoni Mojumdar.

NOSTALGIC CONNECT

“This movie is all about nostalgia. While reading the script, the first thing I felt was people would connect it to their own life. We have connected with every dialogue while making it.  This entire character stayed with me. Her childhood, post-marriage and then returning to meet her friends, that entire journey stayed with me. The script is very simple and very relatable. My character is very flesh and blood. I am listening to all the songs on loop. The songs talk about friendship,” said Tnusree C.

MEMORIES OF FRIENDSHIPS FORSAKEN  

Rudranil Ghosh and Rupankar Bagchi were captured clicking a selfie at the launch. “When I heard the song from Ranajoy, I felt it is a very nice song. I also have friends whom I would love to meet even though we haven’t met in the last 20 years. Our title track Abar Bochhor Koori Pore speaks about that. It brought back many memories of childhood friends, college life and neighbourhood friends with whom I almost have no relation for a long time now. We hardly get to meet as we are all busy in our lives. Since I am a singer-songwriter, I understand what is going on inside a composer’s mind. Whenever I go to work for a composer, I just follow him. Even if there are some improvisations required that need to be accepted by the composer first. When I do playback, I keep my composer personality separated from that, I am just a singer there,” said Rupankar. Rudranil said, “I have always felt this film is like a musical journey where the past and the present cross paths. My character, Dutta, is more like the managing director of the group. In my personal life also, I feel that in friendships those peripheries need to be broken otherwise no one can be another person’s friend. The title track is my favourite as its tune weaves the whole story. It is a very realistic film and the audience will be witnessing their own stories unfolding on the screen.”

SCREEN PRESENCE

“What I loved best about this song (Ador reprise) is the video made by Srimantada. I am there and looking quite good (smiles). So I am very excited about it. I still share a deep connection with my school, so the element of nostalgia regarding school and college days is definitely there that the film also portrays,” said Lagnajita Chakraborty.

Pictures: Pabitra Das