Where the Wind Blows

Kolkata-based Neel Adhikari on composing music for Q’s next, the new album by Neel and the Lightbulbs, and going Sufi with Punjabi folk artistes for another record.

Written by Somya Lakhani

December 23, 2014 12:09 AM IST

4 min read

Neel Adhikari

In Patiala, a few months ago, a 40-year-old Bengali musician watched a feisty 20-year-old deliver near-perfect Sufi notes, her rustic voice texture in place. This was an audition for an upcoming album called Rangley Punjabis under the Peninsula Studio label but for the Bengali musician Neel Adhikari (pictured), this was the most moving folksy voice he had heard in a long time. This had to be heard by more people, he thought to himself. And over a quick chat with Afshana, the young girl, he found out about the Sajda Sisters, a defunct band comprising Afshana and her three sisters.

The next day, the three with their mother arrived at Neel’s audition space. Afshana, Razia and Raman soon recorded Kamli, Rabba yaar mere and Mitti di bawa for Rangley Punjabis, and took their first flight ever for a performance at the Ziro Festival of Music and Arts in September this year.

Apart from the Sajda Sisters, Neel, along with Avinash Chordia (drummer, The Supersonics) has mentored other Punjabi folk musicians for this project such as Amritsar-based Ranjan Ali Qawwal and Patiala’s Maninder Singh. Not once does the album attempt going hip with electronica beats or funky guitar solos. It stays true to the root. Neel’s brother, well-known producer Miti Adhikari too has worked on the album. “We share a good chemistry, it’s fun,” says Neel.

Last month at the Delhi launch of the album, as the musicians performed some tracks from the album, Neel and Chordia stood in a corner and smiled. “We were in Punjab for a week, and my first thought was that none of these artistes speak Hindi. But, we managed. You know what they say about Punjab being an industrious state? Well, it’s true. There is a charming naivety which is so refreshing,” says Neel.

Along with the folk artistes, he performs in Delhi in January. But that’s not all that keeps him busy these days. The Kolkata-based musician is working on the music of two Bengali films. There’s Q’s horror film, Ludo that Neel describes as a “film that the country has never seen before, something that mainstream will hopefully be able to digest”. And then there is Bhitu, a thriller involving two sisters and a rapist-murderer stalker, by Utsav Mukherjee.

Amid all the grim and gore arises a happy note, from his two-year-old band called Neel and the Lightbulbs, ready to release their debut full-length album in January. “It all began with a video of a song we put up online as part of Neel’s Bedroom Concerts. It received good reviews, and Avinash joined us on the drums the next day. We needed a name. I suggested ‘Neel and the Alcoholics’ but it got shot down,” says Neel, with a laugh.

A simple, pop-rockish act, with personal tales being sung in tune, far away from philosophy and big words, Neel and the Lightbulbs are gaining prominence in the music scene with festivals nd major cities booking them for gigs ever so often.

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Though his plate is full, Neel takes it easy. He says a 10-minute-long yoga routine right after a shower every morning keeps him from ageing. And those who know him, would believe him.

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Neel Adhikari