‘Ei Toh Amar Desh’, a song from Supriyo Sen’s upcoming film Tangra Blues, captures the poetic expression of the marginalized with a composition by Nabarun Bose inspired from hip-hop music.
The lanes of Kolkata’s titular slum area come alive with the song featuring Samiul Alam and others as slum kids who not only take up everyday survival as a challenge but also dare to derive inspiration from it.
angra Blues is inspired by the journey of a musical band comprising slum kids, who turn waste material into musical instruments and perform under their leader Sanjay Mondal. The group earned immense popularity when it appeared on the television reality show India’s Got Talent in 2012.
Written by Pranjal Das, the song voices the contrast between the dreams and the harsh reality of the dwellers of the notorious area. While the colourful costumes and spontaneity captured through Ranjan Palit’s camerawork add to the vibrant energy of the street singers, the lyrics suggestively mention that revealing much of their reality might threaten the system that exploits the poor relentlessly.
The lyrics imply that just as a lotus blooms in the mire, the darkness of night fuels their creative energy. While they clean the streets and collect waste during the day, their lives get trashed in a recycle bin, without being nurtured or cared for.
The words and rhythm structure draws reference from Tagore’s poems as well as those that kids often recite while playing various games. Though struggle seems to be synonymous with their lifestyle, infested with danger and crime, the idea of life as a journey not directed towards any goal gets highlighted in the song.
Featuring Parambrata Chatterjee and Madhumita Sarkar in the lead, Tangra Blues is slated for release on 15 April.
