ZUBEEN GARG COMPOSER
The rainmaker
In the northeast, he is a household name. In the rest of the country, he is not exactly unknown. Remember the haunting title song of Fiza and Jaane kya hoga rama re in Kaante? Most of the 30 albums that Zubeen Garg has made have been successes. His recent shift—from Guwahati to Mumbai—has only broadened the 32-year-old's canvas. Assamese film, Dinobandhu, in which he plays second lead and has composed music, will make it to the Indian Panorama of the international film festival in India next year. A project he is excited about is Strings, a Bollywood-made English film, in which he is music director.
"Music is in my blood. My mother and grandmother are singers and my father Kapil Thakur is a renowned poet," says Zubeen.
In 1992, he began singing. His first album, Anamika, in which he was lyricist, composer and singer, was with Kavita Krishnamurthy. It was a hit. He has since helped compose music for Asoka and Dil Se. Along with best buddy Debo Kumar, he set up N.K. Productions and made Assamese film Tumi Mor, Matr Mor; the romantic thriller had Zubeen as the star; the story, lyrics, music and direction were also by him. Today, he has one leg in Assam and the other in Mumbai. "I always wanted to do Hindi films because of the national reach," he says.
He is an unabashed admirer of R.D. Burman, Ilayaraja and Sting and is close to Bhupen Hazarika. Zubeen and his band have worked with almost 250 Assamese tribes, learning over 5,000 folk songs. "I intend to bring all that to Mumbai," he says. "They are my weapons and tools."
Vijaya Pushkarna
Edited by Qwest - 18 years ago
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