Remember Parambrata Chattopadhyay in Tangra Blues (2021), who played an ex-gangster-turned-leader of a unique music band from Kolkata’s Tangra? Well, a similar band exists in real life and has been making all the right kinds of noise in the city!
Sanjay Mandal and Group is a group of budding musicians and percussionists who create music with instruments made from scrap and junk. And it is led by a man on a mission. Sanjay Mandal’s aim is to bring a positive change to as many young lives from his neighbourhood as he can. It has been a 15-year-long journey for Sanjay, whose mantra in life is to live an honest life.
“We live in Tangra, and crime is a part of life here. The intention was to form a music band and to create a space that would allow us to live our lives with dignity,” he shared with My Kolkata.
Sanjay Mandal performing with his band at Nazrul Mancha
Finding a new identity
Sanjay, who is a self-taught sree khol player, also holds a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture. “When I was awarded the scholarship, apart from my family, no one in the neighbourhood – including my peers – did not have a clear idea about what it meant,” he said.
His inclination towards music gradually brought him recognition as a performer in his neighbourhood. This changing identity was also shaping his personal values, and his ability to judge right over wrong.
While he could not change the thought processes and lives of people his age in his locality, Sanjay took on another mission. He was going to try to lead young minds in a positive direction — a path of music and productivity over criminal activities.
Creating a safe space
The members of Sanjay Mandal and Group, aged seven to 28
The young members of Sanjay Mandal and Group come from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Their parents work as domestic assistance providers, or in factories, or as autorickshaw drivers.
“I knew that these innocent children would fall prey to the murkier things of life and eventually disappear, just like I was going to. New clothes or a gift could lure them down a different road,” reflected Sanjay. His only agenda in the past few years has been to create a safe space for people around him so they can find refuge in music, and steer clear of misdemeanours. “The aim and objective for the members of the band is to not spiral, and not be a part of anything that can lead the police to their doorstep,” he said.
His team of musicians includes youngsters across ages — from kids aged seven and eight to young adults of 18, and people in their 20s, to his oldest student, who is 28.
One of Sanjay’s young students takes centre stage during the performance at the Kolkata International Drum Festival 2025
Making music from scrap
The primary reason behind creating music from music out of junk items was the lack of financial resources. Neither Sanjay nor anyone in his team had the means to invest in musical instruments, so they decided “to make experimental music out of anything that was available around us — household trash that could easily be collected from the neighbourhood,” said the frontman of the band.
Since then, they have been playing their own style of music — finding sounds, and figuring out the sur and loy to complement it. The band might not have textbook experience or formal training in music, but they still create a harmonious and unique sound.
The group has ventured into a new style of art by combining Bangla chhora (Bengali folk poetry) with music, as a tribute to Bengal’s rich literary heritage and poets like Sukumar Ray. “I — we, actually — don’t know how to sing. But, we want to pay homage, and the best way for us to do that is in this way,” Sanjay said.
Healing through art
Sanjay also runs a school named Aasman that serves not only as a rehearsal space for the band, but also a space for young children to learn how to paint and play musical instruments like the tabla, violin, flute and guitar. Aasman also teaches puppet making and the basics of theatre, free of cost. Few students are also getting trained in Indian classical music and preparing for scholarship programmes.
He also runs the Kolkata Creative Waste Art Centre, through which the team makes musical instruments out of household waste. This form of art has bagged him accolades, live performances for the band, and has featured in popular shows like India’s Got Talent.
Sanjay Mondal and Group is currently gearing up for their annual performance — a theatrical production titled Bheem Badh (The assassination of Bheem).
