Asha Bhonsle And Amit Kumar Record Bengali ‘Pujor Gaan’ Composed By Shiladitya – Raj
– Asha Audio Produces The Album ‘Pujoy Asha’, Presented by Naktala Udayan Sangha –
Kolkata, 3rd October, 2018: Nostalgic notes. New age sound. Evergreen voices. A great production. Get set to revel in pure music this Durga Puja. Asha Bhonsle, the Diva, makes a comeback in the Pujor Gaan circuit with a new Bengali singles, ‘Ebar Pujoy Elaam Phire’ for the album ‘Pujoy Asha’, composed by Shiladitya – Raj and written by Utpal Das. The other singles of the album, ‘Surey Tumi’, composed by the duo has been sung by renowned playback singer, Amit Kumar and is written by another lyricist. The album is produced by Asha Audio and presented by Naktala Udayan Sangha.
“We all dream. But not every dream is realised. Unless you have dedication, patience, perseverance and you work towards achieving it. And of course you have to be passionate towards your dream. We also had a dream which we nurtured for over 25 years. Our dream was realised when the legend, Asha Bhonsle, whom many consider as an Avatar of Goddess Saraswati, sang her comeback Pujo song for us for the album Pujoy Asha. We are also happy to once again work with one of the finest singers of all time, Amit Kumar for the song ‘Surey Tumi’. As usual, it was pure magic from him. Both the songs are our tribute to the maestros, Kishore Kumar & RD Burman said music composers, Shiladitya – Raj.
“Pujor Gaan goes hand in hand with Bengali sentiments. Over the years Bengalis eagerly await for Pujor Gaan, which is a collection of modern Bengali songs or Rabindra Sangeet or even Nazrul Geeti. New songs by the singers from Kolkata and Mumbai has always been a major draw, From Records to cassettes to CDs and now Digital, Pujor Gaan has never lost its charm. Shiladitya – Raj, the self – confessed disciples of RD Burman have created these new songs for ‘Pujoy Asha’ retaining the flavour, charm and subtlety of the master’s creations which will take the listeners back to those bygone days of melody”, said Ms Mahua Lahiri, Director, Asha Audio.
Ebar Pujoy Elaam Phire was recorded by Asha Bhonsle exactly a week after she completed her 85th birthday. With her unparalleled panache, exuberance and melodious singing, she took the song to a completely different height. She also shot a music video for the song with great verve.
Though ‘Aamar Khatar Patay’ released in 1963 was Asha Ji’s first Pujo song composed by Manna Dey, it was 50 years back in 1968 when we first heard Asha Ji sing Pujo songs for RD Burman and the songs were ‘Eyi Edike Esho’ & ‘Jabo Ki Jabona” penned by Gouriprasanna Majumdar. Both being blockbusters. In subsequent years we got musical gems like ‘Jete Dao Amay Dekona’, ‘Chokhe Chokhe Kotha Bolo’, ‘Jaanina Kothay Tumi’, ‘Jaaire Jaire Bela Je Jaaire’, ‘Phoole Gondho Nei’, ‘Mohuaye Jomechhe Aaj Mou Go’, ‘Shondhabelaye Tumi Aami Boshe Achhi Dujone’, ‘Moyna Bolo Tumi Krishno Raadhe’, ‘Kine De Reshmi Churi’, ‘Ashbo Arek Din Aah Jai’, ‘Bhebechhi Bhule Jaabo’, ‘Tumi Kato Je Doore’, ‘Kotha Kotha Khujechhi Tomay’, ‘Phire Elaam’ & Durge Durge Durgotinashini’ amongst others from them. In all Asha Ji sang 66 Bengali Pujo songs for RD Burman which were mostly singles and had some awesome duets.
With Surey Tumi, Amit Kumar, who is still captivating the audience for almost 5 decades with his rich repertoire of Bengali and Hindi songs, recorded a Pujor Gaan in Kolkata after 14 long years. He recorded his first Pujor Gaan under the baton of his legendary father, Shri Kishore Kumar in 1973 and the songs ‘Jinisher Daam Berechhe’ and ‘Mone Mone Kotodin’ were huge successes. Amit Kumar also sang few Pujor Gaan for RD Burman and the two songs from the album ‘Pran To Mane Na Go’ and ‘Kotodin Aar E Bhabe Boshe Thaaki’ released in 1975 became huge hits. This is for the third time he collaborated with Shiladitya – Raj for a Pujor Gaan; their earlier albums being ‘Shudhu Tomay Dekhi’ (1999) and the immensely popular ‘Phele Asha Din’ (2012).
Any shows or Para Jalsas are till date considered incomplete without the singers singing atleast some of the songs from the puja repertoire of Kishore-Asha-RD combination. Pujoy is an initiative to bring back the memories of Adhunik Bangla Gaan of the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s.
The music arrangement of these two songs of the album has been done by Som Chakraborty and the music videos have been shot by Chandan Singh. Musicians associated with RD Burman have recorded blow instruments like Saxophone, Trumpet and English Flute for this album.
Apart from Audio CD, priced at Rs 75/- the songs of ‘Pujoy Asha’ will be available across all major digital platforms. ‘Pujoy Asha’ will release on Mahalaya, 8th October, 2018.
About Asha Audio Company
Asha Audio Company laid its foundation in May 1995 with the blessings of the legendry singer Asha Bhonsle. In this journey of over 22 years, the company has been able to build up a catalogue of 500 titles. The audio major took a very bold step to establish contemporary music and launched albums of Mohiner Ghoraguli & Paraspathar in 1995 / 1996, which was followed by Chandrabindoo, Miles, Cactus, Fossils & Lakkhichhara. A major section of the company’s repertoire has been designed with Rabindrasangeet, which has a rich blend of artistes like Hemanta Mukhopahhyay, Debabrata Biswas, Subinoy Roy, Ajoy Chakraborty, Srikanta Acharya, Lopamudra Mitra, Jayati Chakraborty, Manomay Bhattacharya, Rupankar, Iman Chakraborty, Shovan, Durnibar and the Bollywood playback singers like Kavita Krishnamurthi, Alka Yagnik, Amit Kumar, Hariharan, Usha Uthup, Shaan, Babul Supriyo and Sadhana Sargam. We also have a selected film repertoire.
As people are now living into a digitally driven world and the physical format of Audio is getting nonexistent, Asha Audio is now also available digitally on Saavn, Gaana, iTunes, Wynk, YouTube, Spotify and rdio. Asha Audio is also building up its You Tube channel and it is having over 3 lakh. Also new videos are being done frequently to promote the albums and the brand digitally. ashaaudio.net is the official website of the organisation and it is also possible to purchase full songs online through this website. Asha Audio is promoting the digital albums on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.