Introspection is the need of the moment: Bickram

Bickram Ghosh, who’s composed his own version of Vande Mataram, talks to Deepali S Dhingra
It was about a month ago that Bickram Ghosh was reworking Vande Mataram for the Bengali Sammelan to be held in North America next year. “It was while I was reworking it, that I was struck by a thought — why not create a new melody for the song?” he recalls. The tabla maestro’s single track Vande Mataram is set to release today and he’s suitably pleased with the outcome.“The original song by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was created in the pre-independence era. I thought we could have a new take on the song in the current situation. The feeling should be of introspection, which is the need of the moment. It is not a rousing song but a melodic song. There is a certain amount of world music scene happening here. There is passion, but the essential emotion is of spirituality,” adds Bickram. With singers like Ustad Rashid Khan, Pt Ajoy Chakrovorty and Kaushiki Chakrovorty lending their voice to the song, Bickram plans to make it pan-Indian by including more singers in the days to come. “The third stage would be to make a music video and later, come out with a full-fledged music album, with a couple of more songs in the same vein, as a lead-up to January 26, 2012,” Bickram reveals.
But that’s not the only thing keeping this talented man busy. Apart from composing music for films (he’s composed music for a film Jal along with Sonu Nigam), composing for Bengali films, working on the album Dragonfly with American drummer Greg Ellis, Bickram’s curating a series called ‘Live In’. “There are six platforms that are going to herald the return of live music. At the moment, live concerts take place for corporates or for hotels. What we’re trying to do is to bring the concert back to the concert stage,” he says. Plans include Western classical concerts, Indian classical and folk concerts, 600 concerts in parks of Kolkata, concerts for the youth as well as a talk show with musicians. “It’s the biggest movement of live concerts ever and very close to my heart,” says the musicia