CC&FC played host to a night filled with pulsating beats and fantastic vibes at Ash King Live, in association with The Telegraph, on November 5 at the club grounds.
It attracted a massive crowd of music lovers of all ages, who sang along and danced to popular numbers by the singer-songwriter. With roots in the city, Ash King instantly connected with the crowd when he greeted them with a warm “nomoshkaar”. He entertained with a medley of retro tunes, big Bollywood hits, a Bengali number, a special mash-up for ladies in the audience, songs dedicated to couples and love-birds and even a tribute to singer KK.
The Telegraph caught up with the music sensation for a chat minutes before he took the stage. Excerpts.
Fans were ecstatic when the singer encouraged them to sing along with him and even turned the microphone towards the crowd to catch their voices better.
You have performed often in Kolkata. Do you love coming back here?
Oh yes, absolutely. As you probably know, I have a special attachment to the city, being a half-Bengali. My name is Ashutosh Ganguly and sometimes, Ash King. Whichever personality I am, I love performing in Kolkata because wherever I am, I am still Bengali at the end of the day. So whenever I perform in Bengal, and specially Kolkata, where my family is from originally, there is always an extra excitement to that as well.
Any favourite performance in the city so far?
My first one, at Netaji Indoor Stadium. I remember, because that’s my most favourite one. It was one of the first times I sang Kothin my song from the Bengali movie Bojhena Shey Bojhena. I think it was the first show I had ever done in West Bengal. After singing Te amo and I love you, which went down really well, when I began to sing the first lines of Kothin with Na na na na na... I remember the reaction to this day! The way the crowd reacted meant so much. To come back to the city where my family is from and sing a Bengali song and to connect to the people who belong here, that was really special.
It was an exciting moment for the fangirls when Ash King stepped down from the stage and matched steps with them as they danced to his tunes.
How do you think your live shows have helped shape you as an artiste?
As an artiste you need to keep learning all the time. When you’re doing live shows, there’s always something going on that makes you learn. I always talk about damage control, because there is always something that doesn’t go according to plan. It’s all about how you react to that on the spot, that’s a major part of performing. Personally my aim is to have everyone sing along or smiling or dancing, so getting them in that zone is always a challenge for me. If there’s even one person who’s looking a bit miserable, it becomes my job to make that person smile. There are a lot of people who are not used to going to concerts, so they don’t know how to embrace the environment. As an artiste, I think to make them feel comfortable is quite important; I feel it is part of my job.
You have developed your distinctive soundscape. Do you feel it says anything about you?
I wouldn’t exactly say that I consciously developed it. Rather it developed because of my background. Being brought up in London, then singing for Hindi films, and listening to various kinds of music, specially Indian folk, Indian classical. Growing up, one of my biggest influences vocally and musically was actually Haimanti Shukla, who is one of my favourite singers. So that whole era of music from the ’80s, the way it was made, it’s what I consider perfect, and it’s all these influences that have together helped me to become the person I am today.
Mou Tiwari (right), a fashion designer, shot a family groupfie with Ash King performing on stage, in the same frame. “This show is an excellent way to start the season in the company of family and friends. The ambience is great. We are enjoying ourselves and look forward to more such events,” she said.
Are you working on any new experiments in music at the moment?
Always experimenting, but the problem is, I never release the music. Right now, I have been doing some new recordings. I did a song with Dhvani (Bhanushali) recently called Mera yaar. I just had a song released, Thumkeshwari (from the soon-to-be-released movie Bhediya) which is topping the charts at the moment. For me, that was an experiment because it’s not the typical kind of song that I would sing. But, if you look at the list of songs I have sung in Bollywood, it’s all a mixture. There’s always a new challenge vocally, in songs, in the studio, just as there is in life!
Any new Bengali song in the offing?
I just recorded something for Arindom (music director) recently while I was in England. We are still working on that song, trying to get the right balance. Hopefully that song will release. If not, I am sure there will be more.
Your message for your fans in Kolkata.....
I am honoured to know that I have fans here. I might not know them personally, and I might not hear from them or see them but I just want to say that the following or the support an artiste has, is a lot bigger than social media. I don’t think social media reflects the kind of fanbase artistes have. Because when I do these live shows, I can actually see the kind of response and I think it’s amazing. I can only say thank you to them. But as long as people love my work, that’s what matters in the end. As long as they feel entertained by my music and can connect to it, I feel successful.
These young ladies let their hair down and simply got into a “girls just wanna have fun” spirit as they grooved to the music.
These ladies were busy clicking selfies and capturing their favourite moments on video, even as they swayed to the beats of the music.
This massive crowd of young people went wild as they sang along, danced and screamed out their song requests to the pop star.
“The whole place is vibing. The songs are peppy and light. It’s great fun out here and I plan to dance non-stop with my friends. As Ash King sang quite a few love songs, it made me feel FOMO,” said Prathna Rai (left) who was there with friend Shraddha Roy.
“It feels great to be at such a gala event after a very long time. Ash King has an amazing stage presence and we are totally loving the music, the energy and the atmosphere. We are having the best time ever,” said Jhilli Majumdar (left), who was there with her friends Atreyi Mukherjee and Jayati Das.
“I have been a big fan of Ash King ever since I heard the song I love you from the Bollywood movie Bodyguard. I am having great fun, soaking up the amazing vibe and enjoying the fantastic weather. I am loving all of Ash King’s numbers tonight, especially the Chasing cars and Meherbaan mash-up. I just couldn’t stop dancing to Bandook meri Laila,” said Kripanjali, a club member.
“This is our first big event of the season. The club looks festive and we are delighted to have a crowd of around 1,500members and guests enjoying Ash King’s brilliant performance tonight. Our entertainment committee has been very proactive and they have plans to organise more such big shows at the club this winter, apart from traditional events,” said CC&FC president, Dipankar Nandi.
