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A Collab Spanning Cultures & Continents

This project revealed that the use of digital technology increased our productivity without compromising the quality,” says New York-based Jonai Singh

Dec 07, 2021

World Salsa Champion, Andres Leiton and Gina Media give the iconic Bengali folk song a new move. Photo: Courtesy of Jonai Singh

When Jonai Singh, the Long Island, New York-based founder of Jonai Singh Events, a concert company that organizes Bengali music shows in North America often featuring Indian artists, saw her business collapse because of the Covid-19 pandemic, she hit upon an innovative new way to help the musicians financially battered by the lockdown. She provided them with a unique new platform to continue showcasing their artistic endeavors from the comfort of their home and studio, a concept she calls `Artsourcing.’ It has resulted in four new Bengali tracks that have become extremely popular on streaming sites like YouTube in recent weeks. 

Working from New York and using a variety of digital platforms, including live videos, Singh and her team were able to arrange seamless collaborations between the musicians, actors, and dancers from three continents to produce these songs and the accompanying videos. The musical compositions saw Steve Gorn, the New York-based Grammy-winning flautist and clarinet player, work with composer Ranajoy Bhattacharya, celebrated guitarist Sanjoy Das, and renowned singers Anwesshaa, and Iman Chakraborty, all based out of Kolkata. 

The videos feature salsa dancers from Bogota, Colombia, dancing effortlessly to Bengali music and actors from New York lip-syncing to the tune of Kolkata singers. While “Premik Nabik” (The Sailing Love) and “Thakur Jamai” (Revered son-in-law) were filmed in Bogotá and Kolkata, “Jogot Shaaje Brindabon” (Heavenly Abode of Krishna) was shot in Kolkata, and “Adure Chithi” (An affectionate letter)) in Brooklyn, New York and Kolkata. The highlight of the Bogota segment is Andres Leiton, a World Salsa Champion,  and the New York video showcases two American-born actors, Roshni Singh and Adam Shaukat. 

“International music collaborations between artists of various countries and cultures have been happening for a long time. The emergence of the video apps has transitioned the music from mere track to visual engine,” says Singh. “Technology wasn’t just a tool used in recording the music or the video. It also aided in cross-cultural creativity inputs, further enhancing its visual subtexts.” 

Jonai Singh. Photo: Courtesy of Singh

According to Singh, with the actors, dancers, and crew coming from various backgrounds, language, though a challenge, was not a big barrier. While the American actors emote the Bengali lyrics of “Adhure Chithi,” in the case of “Thakur Jamai,” it went beyond that. The words of the Bengali songs were first explained to the Colombian artists and technicians, who interpreted it as per their sensibilities. As a result, the nuances in their performances are according to  their own cultural and social response to the meaning in the lyrics. 

“The popular Bengali folk song `Thakur Jamai’ was conceived and recreated with the idea to project it on a larger global canvas,” says Singh, “The score was made to merge with the sensuous salsa moves. The Latin dance was choreographed to harmonize with the joyful folk lyrics. When a Latin person sees the ‘Premik Nabik’ or ‘Thakur Jamai’ song video, they listen to a foreign language. Still, they can connect with the familiar emotions portrayed by the South American actors, dancers and the videographers.” 

The songs have proved to be winners. “Thakur Jamai” has been seen by close to 800,000 people on YouTube since its launch less than six weeks ago.  And significantly, the other three songs have also scored six-figure views. A dance challenge organized recently by the producers of “Thakur Jamai” saw a deluge of video submissions, most of them variations of the Colombian salsa dance rather than the Indian version. 

Award-winning singer, Iman Chakraborty creates an aura of “Brindabon” in her first original kirtan. Photo: Courtesy of Jonai Singh

Singh has launched these songs under a new label called Jonai Singh Music, through which she hopes to harness the power of digital technology and collaboration involving artists from around the world, a process which she has christened as `Artsourcing.’ “This project revealed that the use of digital technology increased our productivity without compromising the quality. It enthralled me that our team could record a musical potpourri in real-time, working simultaneously across three continents. The cross-cultural convergence infused the music and the videos with a cosmopolitan vigour. It made ethnic – global! And all of this was done, without leaving home,” she says.

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