Angaraag Mahanta

Angaraag "Papon" Mahanta
Papon performing in Coke Studio Minicert in Mumbai August, 2011
Background information
Native name	অংগৰাগ "পাপন" মহন্ত
Also known as	Papon
Born	24 November 1975 Nagaon, Guwahati, Assam, India
Genres	Electronic fusion, Indian/ Assamese classical , Indian/ Assamese folk, acoustic folk, playback singing, jazz and ghazals.
Occupation(s)	Singer, musician, record producer, composer
Instruments	Vocals, tabla, acoustic guitar, piano, harmonium and khol.
Years active	2004–present
Labels	MDR Records, Times Music, T-Series, Sony Music
Associated acts	Karsh Kale, Midival Punditz, Rabbi Shergill, Rihan Sheehan, Rachel Sermanni, Bikram Ghosh, State of Bengal, Djuma Sound System, Susmit Sen, Shantanu Moitra
Website	www.papon.in

Angarag Mahanta, known by his nickname Papon, is an Indian singer, composer and record producer from Assam.^[1] He is the lead singer and founder of the folk-fusion band called Papon and The East India Company.

Early life

He was born to the Assamese folk singer couple Khagen Mahanta and Archana Mahanta. He spent most of his childhood in Assam and he was introduced to music early on in his childhood.^[2]

Career

Papon's initial training was in Indian Classical, devotional (Borgeet) and folk music. He learnt vocals primarily but also plays the khol, tabla, guitar, and harmonium. His music covers genres such as ambient electronic, acoustic folk and new-age Indian classical music and it has been identified as having traces of pentatonic Mongoloid notes, local river song influences and ghazals.^[3] Although his first language is Assamese he has also sung in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Marathi, Mishing and Bengali.

His latest addition to Bollywood songs is 'Humnava' in film Hamari Adhuri Kahani. Just before this was a song called "Lakeerein" which is a poem by Gulzar from the film Kya Dilli Kya Lahore. Before that he sung "Sun ri Bavli" from Lakshmi (2014) by Nagesh Kukunoor. In 2014 only he also had sung two songs "Sun le re" and "Khudse" from the movie Madras Cafe (2013). He recorded a hit song "Kyon" for the movie Barfi!. He has also sung the title song from Inkaar (2013). His first big song in Bollywood was "Jiyein kyun" from the movie Dum Maro Dum. Papon released his first album, Junaki Raati in Assamese at the end of 2004, marking a new kind of regional sound. The second album he produced was Sinaaki Osinaaki, which was released in November, 2009. Papon has also sung on a few other albums produced by various artists in Assam. His first folk music album was Rangphul a Bihu album, after which he produced Gomseng and subsequently, Phagunor Gaan an album representing the typical holi songs of Barpeta in West Assam. He sang on a devotional Borgeet album called Chandamukhi and is working on a traditional folk album of Tokari songs. On the first edition of Coke Studio @ MTV, he performed on the popular bihu song "Pak Pak".

Papon returned to Coke Studio @ MTV in 2013, and this time around, he produced his very own episode for the popular show. This makes Papon the only musician to have grown with Coke Studio @ MTV, having now been involved in all three seasons of the show. For his episode on this season of the show, Papon produced 6 songs – 3 brand new compositions and 3 cross-border folk songs. In the first season of Coke Studio @ MTV, Papon sang the upbeat song "Pak Pak (Bihu Naam)", produced by Lesle Lewis, and in its second season, he produced his own track, the high-spirited Assamese folk song "Tokari" and also featured as a vocalist on celebrated musician composer Nitin Sawhney's episode singing the beautiful, almost melancholic folk song "Sahil Tak".

Papon's work on this season of Coke Studio @ MTV has been critically lauded and videos of his tracks have received thousands of views on YouTube within a week. Of the 3 new compositions, "Tauba", with Benny Dayal, has received more than 1.5 million views, while the Papon solo "Khumaar" has received over 500,000 views. "Benaam Khwahishein" has also received close to 1.5 million views. Papon also reinvented 3 folk songs for his episode of Coke Studio @ MTV. "Baisara Beera", is a Rajasthani folk song Papon learned from his father; "Dinae Dinae", with Harshdeep Kaur, is a beautiful Bhatiali river song from Goalpara in Assam, in the Sufi tradition, and has received over 450,000 views; and "Jhumor ( ঝুমুৰ )", a rousing song of the tea tribes in Assam.

Angaraag once stated in his interview with NDTV Good Times that he wishes to travel worldwide and perform in various music festivals. At the same time, he also wants to meet different musicians, be exposed to different forms of music and collaborate with various talented musicians to create amazing and beautiful music. Some of his initial stuff was widely considered a novelty in the Assamese musical scenario. It was a blend of East-Indian folk music and Western electronic musical arrangement, enhanced by atmospheric sounds effects. In most of these endeavors, he collaborated with the East India Company, of which he is a founding member.

Papon performing in Incandescence in NIT Silchar, 10 Feb,2014

Band

In 2007, Papon formed an electronic folk-fusion band called Papon and The East India Company. The band consists of Papon on vocals, Brin Desai and Hameem Kader on live electronics, Jinti on lead guitars, Kirti on percussion and Dipu on bass and Tanmay on Drums ^[4][5] The six members came from backgrounds varying from Assamese folk to metal and blues to trip hop.

The band has performed twice at the SAARC Music Band Festival in New Delhi, the Eastwind Festival and the Kovalam Literary Festival and has performed overseas with Sutasi in Singapore. The band took a two-year break in the wait for a solo album which released internationally at the end of 2011.^[6] The band is back in action in November with 4 big festivals in the same month. They also played at the October Fest in Bangalore, NH7 Weekender fest in Pune and the Rock for Rights concert in New Delhi.^[7] Earlier their track "OMO" was taken on by Saregama HMV for release on the compilation album, The Underground along with a song called "Jiya Baittho Jai" in an album called Sahibol. In 2008, their track called "Khuda Hota" was released by Dada Music an extension of Music Today. In 2015, Papon and The East India Company performed at Oasis in BITS Pilani Pilani Campus, Dhaka International Folk Fest and in 2016, he performed at Spree in BITS Pilani Goa Campus.

Personal life

He lives in Mumbai with his wife Shweta Mishra Mahanta and they have two children, a son named Puhor and daughter named Parijaat. His father, noted Assamese folk singer Khagen Mahanta, died on 12 June 2014.^[8]

Collaborations

Papon has performed with the MIDIval Punditz and Karsh Kale at various festivals around the world including the Paléo Music Festival in Switzerland, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore and Oslo World Music Festival in Norway. Aside from performing with them, Papon has co-written a couple of songs with the MIDIval Punditz that featured on their third album Hello Hello which ranked among the top three songs on Amazon, worldwide. He collaborated with the Welling Jazz Band, in Wellington, New Zealand, for a project playing some of his music during Crossings festival held in Wellington, New Zealand in 2007. Also in the project was Rihan Sheehan, a popular electronic artist and producer from Wellington. He also wrote a song with Karsh Kale for his new album Cinema. He is working on two international collaborations which were to be released in 2012.

Papon has featured in albums which carry the labels of MDR Records, in a collaboration with Times Music, and has also featured in the soundtrack of Bollywood films Dum Maaro Dum, I Am Kalam, Soundtrack, Patang, and most recently Barfi!. He also featured on the Indian leg of the show Coke Studio @ MTV. He performed on the show Global Indian Film Awards with MIDIval Punditz, Kailash Kher and Shubha Mudgal. He also appeared on Star world India, Episode six of The Dewarists with Rabbi Shergill and recorded a song "Khule Da Rabb". Papon has also worked with Shantanu Moitra in the 4th season of The Dewarists for 'O Megh' which is inspired by Rabindranath Tagore's poem of same name.^{[6][9][10][11]}

Discography

Awards and achievements

Mahanta has received several awards and honors, including three GiMA Awards, two Jack Daniel’s Rock Awards, and a Screen Award. Assamese news channel News Live awarded Mahanta the "Assamese of The Year" award for the year 2015.^[12]

Year	Ceremony	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2011	Big Asomiya Music Awards 2010	Best Singer Male	"Ujai Ja Noi" - Raamdhenu	Won
	GiMA Awards 2011	Best Folk Album	Gomseng	Nominated	[6][13]
			Phagunar Gaan	Nominated
2012	Prag Cine Awards 2012	Best Playback Singer Male	Title Track - Raamdhenu	Won	[14]
	GiMA Awards 2012	Best Pop Album	The Story So Far	Won	[15]
2013	Stardust Awards 2013	New Musical Sensation Singer - Male	"Kyun" - Barfi!	Nominated	[16]
	JD Rock Awards 2013	Song of The Year	"Boitha Maro Re" - The Story So Far	Won	[17]
		Best Male Vocalist	-	Won
	Prag Cine Awards 2013	Best Playback Singer Male	Rowd	Nominated
2014	Prag Cine Awards 2014	Best Playback Singer Male	Bhal Pabo Najanilu	Nominated	[18]
2015	Prag Cine Awards North-East 2015	Best Supporting Actor Male	Rodor Sithi	Nominated
		Best Playback Singer Male	"Protidine" – Rodor Sithi	Nominated
	GiMA Awards 2015	Best Pop Album	Coke Studio at MTV Season 3 – Papon	Won	[19]
2016	22nd Screen Awards	Best Male Playback	"Moh Moh Ke Dhage" – Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Won	[20]
	61st Filmfare Awards	Best Male Playback Singer	"Moh Moh Ke Dhage" – Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Nominated	[21][22]
	Zee Cine Awards 2016	Best Playback Singer - Male	"Moh Moh Ke Dhage" – Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Nominated	[23][24]
	8th Mirchi Music Awards	Male Vocalist of the Year	"Moh Moh Ke Dhage" – Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Won	[25]
	Times of India Film Awards 2016	Best Playback Singer (Male)	"Moh Moh Ke Dhage" – Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Won	[26]
	GiMA Awards 2016	Best Playback Singer - Male	"Moh Moh Ke Dhage" – Dum Laga Ke Haisha	Won	[27][28][29]

References

1. Sarmah, Chandan (29 January 2010). "Tunes with a rare freshness". The Telegraph (Calcutta, India). Retrieved 22 November 2011.
2. "Watch out for Papon on Coke Studio". afaqs! (Press release). Avian Media. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
3. "Biography". Last.fm. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
4. "Papon & The East India Company". nh7. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
5. "Almost Famous". NDTV Good Times. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
6. Sinha, Dipanjan (18 November 2011). "Papon goes national on musical movement". The Telegraph (Calcutta, India). Retrieved 23 November 2011.
7. "Jamming for Rights". Hindustan Times. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
8. Staff (13 June 2014). "Legendary Assamese Singer Khagen Mahanta dies at 72". Times of Assam. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
9. "O Megh - Music Video ft. Shantanu Moitra & Angaraag Papon Mahanta [Ep4 S04] : The Dewarists". YouTube. Dewar's India.
10. "Season 04 : O Megh". Dewar's.
11. "The Dewarists – Khule Da Rabb". nh7. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
12. "Papon bags ‘Assamese Of The Year’ award". The Northeast Today. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
13. "2011 GIMA Awards Non Film Nominees". Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA). Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
14. Singh, Jasmine (30 March 2013). "Vocal charm". The Tribune. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
15. "GiMA Awards 2012 Winners". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
16. "Nominations for Stardust Awards 2013". Bollywood Hungama. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
17. "JD Rock Awards 2013 Winners". 23 February 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
18. "Nominations for Prag Cine Award, 2014". The Assam Tribune (Guwahati). 4 March 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
19. "GiMA Awards 2015 Winners". Retrieved 12 January 2016.
20. Sudhakaran, Sreeju (8 January 2016). "Star Screen Awards 2016 winners list". BollywoodLife.com. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
21. "Nominations for the 61st Britannia Filmfare Awards". The Times of India. TNN. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
22. Kaur, Kiran (16 January 2016). "61st Britannia Filmfare Awards: The complete list of winners". The Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
23. "Zee Cine Awards 2016 Nominations List Out!". Koimoi. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
24. Prashar, Chandni (21 February 2016). "Zee Cine Awards: Complete List of Winners". NDTV (New Delhi). Retrieved 21 February 2016.
25. "8th Mirchi Music Awards: Complete list of winners". The Times of India. TNN. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
26. Trivedi, Hiten J (19 March 2016). "TOIFA 2016 - Winners List". Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
27. "GIMA 2016 Nominations". Retrieved 20 March 2016.
28. "'Bajirao Mastani' leads GiMA Awards nominations". The Times of India (Mumbai). IANS. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
29. Sen, Sushmita (7 April 2016). "GiMA Awards 2016: 'Bajirao Mastani' bags maximum awards; Yo Yo Honey Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Arijit Singh perform live". International Business Times. Retrieved 8 April 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Official Facebook Page
• Angaraag Mahanta at the Internet Movie Database
• "When it rained bands". Deccan Herald. 15 November 2011.
• "Song of Dum Maaro Dum". Hindustan Times. 21 March 2011.