Singer Shalmali Kholgade, who has gifted us several hit numbers, including Balam Pichkari, Pareshaan and others, has teamed up with Papon for a Bengali original music recently. The song, Aajo Cholechhi, is composed by Subhadeep Mitra and the lyrics are jointly penned by Dev Arijit and Tithi Dutta. The song opens with Shalmali humming a Himachali folk song, Chamba Kitni Dur. The young singer, who is currently studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, has recorded the song in Mumbai. The video that was shot in a live studio format was uploaded for streaming on July 20. It has already garnered a view of more than 21K. With Bengali classical and contemporary music in the foreground, the number has derived inspiration from folk music of other regions in India.

Shot in Mumbai by some of the country’s leading technicians in the music industry, more than 16 artistes and seven composers joined hands to create 10 original songs that will be streamed online. Besides Papon and Shalmali, several other big names, including Shaan, Sona Mohapatra, Anupam Roy, Javed Ali, Ash King, Akriti Kakkar, Nikhita Gandhi, Bhoomi Trivedi, Dev Negi and others, have teamed up for the project. Visualised in studio format, the songs keep Bengali music in the foreground and take inspirations from other parts of lndia like Assam, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In a true collaborative spirit, this programme aims to deliver interesting music for enthusiast. Tapping into genres such as baul, trap, bihu, rap, classical and even new-age pop, this project explores a completely new and original soundscape.