‘Was brought up in this world’

Anurag Saikia

For Anurag Saikia, working on Anubhav Sinha's Anek was like coming home. The composer and instrumentalist from Assam was appointed to instil the flavour of music from the north-east into the Ayushman Khurrana-starrer, which is set in the area. "Even the story that Anubhav sir wanted to showcase is one that I have [lived through] because I was brought up in the north-east. I have been part of that world. The songs have been sung by singers belonging to the north-east, and Kashmir. The album has a lot of variety. It comprises two English songs, one in a local language of Nagaland, and one in Kashmiri. In fact, there is only one Hindi song in the entire album."

While the Hindi track, which weaves the narrative together, was rendered by Sunidhi Chauhan since Sinha wanted "a powerful voice", singers from several other cities were appointed for the different songs. Ask him how he used his music sensibilities to decipher the languages that should be employed, and he says, "Voice of Anek, the title track was written by Shakeel Azmi and sung by Sunidhi and Vivek Hariharan. Oh mama is a situational song, and has been written by Anubhav sir. As we know, western music is an integral part of the culture in the north-east, where people jam to songs of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Scorpions, Pink Floyd and Bob Marley in clubs and live shows. Thus, we used English numbers in the film. Rabbit is another song which showcases the performance of a band as the story continues to unfold. The fourth track, Oh ku takum, is written by Jonathan Lemtur from Nagaland. The story, at that point, demanded a song in the local language. All the songs are situational numbers and integral to the story."

Khurrana in the film

A fifth track is a Kashmiri iteration of Oh ku takum. "It is called Shal wunga. There are similarities between the north-east and Kashmir, culturally and politically. These factors have been showcased in both the compositions. The composition is the same for both tracks."

Among the frontrunners showcasing music from the north-east in commercial cinema, Saikia's success could pave the way for more artistes hoping to bridge the gap between folk and film. Turning attention towards the strongest points of music from the north-east, he says, "Music is essentially a part of one's culture. As nature differs across the country, so does the manner in which people communicate and express. Also, we have a variety of ethnicities; every 100 kilometres, you will encounter a different culture. We have a huge culture of learning and practicing western music. All of these factors shape our musical outlook. The freedom to intermingle with different cultures is what makes our music appealing to independent musicians."