What started it all for Ankan Kumar
Ankan Kumar has a vivid connection with love. The singer, who often finds music in nature and its beautiful forms, has once again mesmerised audiences with Coke Studio Bangla Season 4’s song “Mothura”. The song centres on two lovers whose paths remain intertwined despite an insurmountable distance. Surprisingly, the inspiration for the song dates back six years, long before audiences fell in love with his song “Upo.”
“Basically, this song came to me a long time ago. Around six years ago, I went to Khulna for work. There were a lot of storms in Khulna at the time, and it was a beautiful experience. One night, during a storm, I was sitting and writing, and that was when I wrote this song. There was a similar essence to it. There is also lightning and thunder in the song. I composed the tune and wrote the lyrics at that time.”
Another interesting fact about the song is that Ankan not only sang and penned the lyrics, but also briefly worked as an Assistant Director (AD) during the making of “Mothura”.
“Actually, after I finished shooting my part, I joined the AD team for two or three hours. While working as an AD, and the whole experience was ethereal. I am really grateful to my co-artiste Sanzida Mahmood Nandita for bringing this song to life. I am also grateful to Arnob bhaiya, Shuvendu da and Buno bhaiya for making this song magical. A big shoutout to Azman Rusho bhai and his team for bringing this artistic piece beautifully to the screen.”
With the growing popularity of “Long Distance Love”, the doors to the film industry opened for the singer. This year, with back-to-back hit songs such as “Borai Kore” from “Pressure Cooker” and “Ami Jabo Hariye” from “Rockstar”, he further cemented his place in the showbiz industry.
Interestingly, Ankan’s film debut song “Borai Kore” was initially supposed to be sung by Jahid Nirob, who was also the music composer. Eventually, he decided that Ankan’s voice was the best fit for the song.
He shared, “The song ‘Borai Kore’ was being made for Nirob bhai. But he thought my tone would be ideal for it. And after that, the amount of love that I received really overwhelmed me. ‘Ami Jabo Hariye’ is also close to my heart. I am really happy that I got to meet Shakib Khan. He praised my song a lot. He said that I am a really good singer and he listens to my songs.”
Talking about how classical music and R&B influence his songs, he said, “I like singing R&B and pop. I listened to a lot of music while growing up, especially older Bangla songs. I also used to listen Nazrul, Rabindra, Atul Prasad Sen and Rajanikanta’s songs. I really liked those songs and listened them repeatedly.”
He added, “I guess that could have influenced me. I also learnt classical music to some extent, although I never formally trained as a singer. So, when I was young, I used to think that whenever I made music of my own, I would make the kind of songs that I personally liked.”
With a string of romantic tracks being released, Ankan was asked whether he felt he was being typecast.
“I don't want it to be that way. But yes, these are the kinds of tracks that have been coming out from the beginning, whether commercially or non-commercially. But in the long run, there has always been a strong R&B and pop influence in my music. ‘Mothura’ has that as well. It has R&B and pop elements, but the lyrics and melody have a classical quality. So, it is a mix of everything,” he said.
At the moment, Ankan is focusing on his work as a recording artiste and is also looking to collaborate with new musicians. “A couple of people are already working with me, but I don't want to reveal their names right now,” he said. “I am making a pop album, and Arafat Shuvo, one of my bandmates, is part of it. He is also my childhood friend. There are more people on my album as well — people we have previously heard on different tracks.”
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