Past forward

Namit Das and Anurag Shanker will combine pre-Partition poetry with modern musical styles at a gig

The genesis of the musical relationship that Anurag Shanker and Namit Das formed with each other goes back to the time that they were working on the sets of the cult indie film Sulemani Keeda in 2014. Shanker was composing music for the movie. Das had been enlisted to sing a few of the tracks. "And since we had a great vibe going, we decided to join forces," Shanker says.

Now, Das comes from a family of proficient musicians. "So, we found a body of unreleased recordings lying around in his house, thanks to his grandfather, father and uncle, apart from some great writing by pre-Partition poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz. And we thought, ‘Why not revive these classics without selling out, as had become the case with a lot of Indian classical music over the years?’" Shanker says.

The result was the formal crystallisation of Namit Das + Anurag Shanker, with the collaboration set to play a gig in the city tonight. "Namit came up with the ideas, and I would write the songs on a guitar. The sound is minimal in nature, without it falling into the realm of the singer-songwriter genre," Shanker shares, adding, "We felt that the music circuit had reached a place where bands were making songs just for the audience to hold on to their beer to. There was no deep insight as such. So, we wanted to stay true to our cultural roots while also showing who we are as individuals in 2018."

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