Ten years ago Houston, Calcutta, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Raima Sen and the hit number Pagla hawa came together in a clutter-breaking film that was young and fresh. Anjan Dutt’s The Bong Connection had a finger on the pulse of the upwardly mobile urban Bong. This New Year, the Bongs are back at the theatres, as The Bongs Again with a cast comprising Jisshu Sengupta, Parno Mittra, Gaurav Chakrabarty, Neha Panda and Anjan himself in a pivotal role. “It’s a story that goes to London and Calcutta. Two girls. Two cities. Two journeys again, like the older one,” said Anjan. t2 chats with Anjan and music director Neel Dutt about the music of the January 13 release...

500 Miles (sung by Anjan Dutt) 

Anjan: It’s the first song I learnt at St. Paul’s, Darjeeling, at the age of eight. 500 Miles is special to me because it talks about a journey... life on the road. The tune is haunting. 

Neel: It’s the theme song of the film and we have done it in a jazz-y way. There are two journeys of two characters (played by Parno Mittra and Neha Panda) in the film, inner and outward, and how they come to certain realisations. And that line, ‘Not a shirt on my back/ Not a penny to my name/Lord I can’t go back-home this a-way’ is very important in the film.  

Hridmajharey rakhbo (sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Shaan) 

Anjan: Hridmajharey... connects the two stories in the same way as Pagla hawa did in The Bong Connection. At the pre-climax, the two girls, having faced huge crises, want to get high. They both smoke up. Parno’s Olipriya smokes up in Kent with my character (Jerry)  and his bunch of British hipppie buddies. Neha’s Sara also smokes ganja with a tourist guide, played by Subhra Sourav, and his bunch of hippie backpackers on Sudder Street. They both end up singing and dancing to a rompy, sexy version of Hridmajharey.... The original Baul song has inherent sexual undertones. Similarly, Pagla hawa was also the point where the two boys found their high, they freaked out. One in Bolpur, the other on Galveston Beach. Here, too, the two girls freak out and find their freedom.

Neel: I grooved it up with a lot of Latin elements. It is a very energetic, dancey number. And it celebrates both Calcutta and the UK. 

The Bongs Again (sung by Neel Adhikari and Anjan Dutt) 

Neel: The title track has a very now, modern acoustic feel. The song sums up the film and puts the film in perspective. It also captures the mindscape of the modern Bengali. 

Ey shohor (sung by Neel Dutt) 

Anjan: This is the Majhi re of The Bongs Again. Majhi re was about childhood, and in this song (lyrics by Anjan) I have just focused on the city (Calcutta), which is still very beautiful .

Neel: It is a romantic, partly nostalgic song. It captures the spirit of old Calcutta. Two words — grace and love — define that spirit. 

Tomay gaan shonabo (sung by Somlata and Anjan)

Neel: This Tagore song has a refrain in English. It’s like having two songs together. 

Anjanda has his own set of ideologies and beliefs, and hats off to him for keeping his sensibilities and creative integrity alive and intact over the years. Somewhere, Neel has inherited the same germ… he has his own signature sound. He has that rock, blues, jazz zone in his songs — Shaan, vocalist

It was fun to work with Neel (Dutt) again. We used to play gigs as Neel and Neel. Lots of reminiscing and nostalgia put us in the sweet spot that was the perfect launching pad for this super cute song (The Bongs Again). I had a great time singing it. Neel’s brief was to sing the words and not the tune. So I kept it intimate, like someone musing to himself. The melody is very catchy. It was great to sing with Anjanda. The session was warm, chatty yet constructive, the perfect atmosphere for music to bloom — Neel Adhikari, vocalist

There is a link with The Bong Connection in the stylisation of the music. It was a good, fun session for me because of the independence and the freedom that I get when I am collaborating with the Dutts. The acoustic guitar riff of the title track is identifiable... the approach and the style will remind you of The Bong Connection theme song. Some parts of the background music are close to my heart. — Amyt Datta, guitarist