Anusheh Anadil

Rarely do singers get to identify with the characters they sing for in a film. It happened with Bangladeshi singer Anusheh Anadil, who has sung three songs for Horotoni (played by Rii) in Q’s Tasher Desh. A t2 email chat.

How did you feel when you learnt you would be singing for Horotoni?

I have always felt like Horotoni. I am breaking old, mundane patterns and trying to search for new, harmonious ones continuously.

Were you familiar with the songs?

Yes, I had heard them all my life. My mother is a Rabindra nrityanatya dancer. I have grown up seeing her perform in various Tagore plays, such as Shyama, Chandalika, Mayar Khela, Tasher Desh. All of it was a big part of my childhood. I also belong to a group of young people who have been abused by the institutionalised Rabindrik dhara. I believe it was high time we broke this pattern. It was time to take Kobiguru out of the box!

How did you approach your songs?

I would say that it was hard to deliver the songs from the heart because I kept feeling as if the baggage of ‘Rabindrik gayeki’ was holding me back! At the end I had to really become Horotoni.

What’s your take on the Tasher Desh soundtrack?

I grew up listening to bands like Morcheeba and Massive Attack, and all those trance-inducing sounds that made our soundscape different from our parents. I think it was only appropriate to express Tasher Desh the way Q did, given that it was made by someone who grew up with those sounds.

Which part of your work are you most proud of?

I am most proud of being able to be free from any dogma.

How was your experience singing Ghorete bhromor elo?

I felt that for a while it was hard for me to connect to Horotoni. I sing songs of mystics that speak of the spirit being free. But here I had to be vulnerable, and I had to feel the struggle of ‘trying’ to be free. I wanted to be honest on this track.

What was Q’s brief to you for this song?

He said, ‘Sing as if you are making love for the first time’.

What was the biggest challenge?

To sing the songs from the heart without any baggage of how they should or should not be sung!