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From thumri to folk to Rabindrasangeet to Bollywood, this fusion band does it all. After performing at Blue Frog, Delhi, for the music contest Leapfrog to Coke Studio in May, the Calcutta-based band Mrittika did 12 songs in five hours for Music Mojo on Kappa TV in Kerala. The songs, which were aired in August, are now on YouTube. t2 hears it from vocalist Madhubanti Bagchi and tabla player/drummer Nilanjan Ghosh of Mrittika.
The call: One of our fans from Kerala informed us about a particular show that happens on a channel called Kappa TV where they feature bands that are doing interesting music. We sent them our works and they confirmed us for the show.
The songs: We almost set a record by finishing 12 songs in five hours! We did four originals and eight covers. The originals were mostly Hindusthani classical oriented. But the covers were varied. We had two Bangla songs on our list, then songs by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rajasthani folk songs, a Bollywood song composed by A.R. Rahman....
The format of the show: They shoot 12 songs at a stretch which are shown in the form of two 30-minute episodes on weekends. We performed at Mathrubhumi studios in Trivandrum.
The response: It was brilliant! They also let us do two Bengali songs on a show where most viewers would not understand the language.... It felt nice to have represented Bengal in God’s Own Country, Kerala!
Coke Vs Kappa: At Leapfrog to Coke Studio we had to perform within a very limited time keeping a lot of factors in mind. We had chanced upon posters of the Leapfrog to Coke Studio contest where they wanted entries from all over the country for a slot on Coke Studio. We sent two entries. One was our original Tarse and the other Aaj jaane ki zid na karo.
Kappa TV gave us the freedom to do our songs the way we liked and we could do as many retakes as we wanted.
