Art, cause & nostalgia: City artistes evoke Bengali sentiments at global Puja gigs

Musicians and performers continued their tradition of travelling to other cities and abroad during Pujo, to bring joy and artistry to the revelry there. Despite challenges, the spirit of Pujo remained vibrant with the performances serving as powerful forms of expression and connection with the audiences. CT gets you the deets.

Home and hearty
Popular Bengali ensembles Bhoomi and Lakkhichhara travelled to other cities in India. Soumitra Ray, founding member of Bhoomi reveals they had three shows in Bangalore, taking their tally of live shows to 1,855. “People drove for hundreds of kilometres from neighbouring cities to listen to us,” he says. Lakkhichhara performed in Kolkata on Sashti, and in Mumbai and Delhi on the rest of the days. Debaditya Chaudhury, keyboardist of the band says, “We were a bit apprehensive about the mood during Pujo this year, but people celebrated just the way they do every year. Even though we stuck to our own songs for the Kolkata performance, we weaved in some classics by Moheener Ghoraguli for the other performances."
Bangaliyana in the US & Canada
As singer Antara Nandy puts it, Bengalis living abroad take pride in their cultural identity. She and her sister Ankita, popularly known as the Nandy sisters went to the US on October 3, and are still on a 10-city tour there. Popular ensemble Cactus too is on the last leg of a 21 day tour across five cities in the US, while national award winning singer Iman Chakraborty just returned home from a five-city tour in Canada. Sourendro-Soumyojit too are travelling across the US with their live shows.
The UK witnesses Mahishasuramardini
Six dancers, including Dona Ganguly and a few UK-based musicians such as Dr Ananda Gupta, who is also the chairman of London Camden Puja brought Mahishasuramardini to life on stage in the UK. Dona says, “We performed on Panchami, Sashti and Saptami and our first performance was at Hindu Society Centre, and then went on to stage Mahishasuramardini and Tasher Desh at Camden, with members from the committee joining us.” While the first had around 19 songs in it, the Camden performance had around 30 songs for Mahishasuramardini.
Remembering the RG Kar victim
Alongside her usual Pujo playlist, Iman has also included songs like Bistirno Dupare, Pothey Ebar Naamo Sathi and Ami Shunechi Shey Din Tumi, to convey a strong social message, keeping the RG Kar victim in mind. Sidhu, lead vocalist of Cactus who is also a medical practitioner says, “We reimagined one of our songs Lash Kata Ghor right before Pujo, and we have been performing it in each of our shows. I make sure to take off my flamboyant jacket when I sing this song, and wear a stethoscope around my neck to remember the victim.” The Nandy Sisters on the other hand are observing a 30-second silence during their performances, and have dedicated a segment to the victim, that includes their original titled Maa Kali Mahakali, that talks about Shakti and woman empowerment.
Thirty years and going strong
Anjan Dutt & The Electric Band tours the US, Canada and Australia every year, but it’s extra special for the Tumi Na Thakle singer this time, as 2024 marked 30 years of his journey in the music industry. “We celebrated 30 years in Kolkata earlier this year, and the US tour conceptualised by Jonai Singh during Pujo was a part of the celebrations. All the places I performed at in the US saw a huge turnout, and having a crowd of almost 700-800 people in places like Delaware, which doesn’t have a big Bengali community, was unexpected,” says the veteran singer-songwriter who performed in North Carolina, Boston, Delaware, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas.
- “My audience, who started listening to me in the 90s are now settled outside Kolkata, and are essentially probashis and non-residential Indians. They know all my songs” – Anjan Dutt
Pujo with a message
Just like Kolkata, committees abroad too had the RG Kar victim at the back of their minds this Pujo. London Sharod Utsav committee’s annual magazine reflected a similar picture with a painting by Tamojit Bhattacharya on the cover that shows an immersed Durga, with a face expressing anger and pain. Sourav Niyogi, trustee, Bengal Heritage Foundation that organises the biggest Durga Puja in Europe says, “We thought the best way to express our concern and grief was through art.” Dr Ananda Gupta, chairman, London Camden Puja reveals, “We lit 108 diyas structured in a way to reflect the victim’s name to express what we feel, and also had Durga’s chandmala with her name written on it.”
Quote blurbs:
- “ While our coordinated moves, harmony segments are a hit with the audiences, we are also performing a special song composed by me at the venues. It’s based on Hindustani Classical tunes, and has a video with it that plays in the background when we perform the song. We’re planning to launch it on our channel when we return" – Antara Nandy
- “ People have reciprocated a lot with the songs conveying strong social messages, sometimes even more than my popular songs. This feeling resonated across all the five cities where I performed” - Iman Chakraborty
- “ We are known for improvisations, and our playlist includes nostalgic numbers that are reinterpreted with a classical touch, alongside Rabindra Sangeet, Shyama Sangeet. We begin our performance with an Agomoni song and to add Bangaliyana to our performance, we perform wearing the quintessential dhuti-panjabi” – Soumyojit Das
- “ Most Probashi Pujos were in sync with the sentiments in Kolkata. But the committees also unitedly made a decision to stand by performing artistes, especially the accompanying musicians this Pujo, because this is livelihood for many” – Jonai Singh, US-based concept