The “Bhojpuri Queen” as she is fondly called by friends, followers and fans alike, had a start in the golden years of the late 2001s in the bustling city of Mumbai, India. Thus began a comprehensive journey that generated mass hysteria and established this gentle vocalist as one of the most powerful new voices in India introduced to music early in her childhood.
Kalpana Patowary is the worthy torchbearer of
a rich legacy of vocals, being the daughter of Assam’s folk singer Bipin
Chandra Nath and disciple of the legendary Ustad Gulam Mustafa Khan. She is
very much influenced by Dr Bhupen Hazarika, the 'Bard of Brahmaputra', an
informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest.
Her first language is Assamese but she sings
in Bhojpuri, Hindi, Bengali, English & 28 other languages with around 12000
songs to her credit.
Initially trained in Assamese folk and Indian
Classical music, Kalpana Patowary, a devoted vocalist, has been hailed as a
prodigy in the world of Bhojpuri music. She is the darling of the North Indian
belt and has carved herself a special niche in the Bhojpuri music world
credited with reviving and promoting Bhojpuri music industry all over the world
and bringing back traditional forms of music to the International stage. Indian
folk music particularly of Northern India has been showcased and revived by her
in a big way. “She gave Bhojpuri Music a
new twist”. Critic wrote that she changed the art of Bhojpuri vocals.
Very few people know that Kalpana Patowary is
as versatile that she justify or render both in raw folk forms as well as
western singing. Kalpana Patowary’s music genre is about primitive -acoustic
folk with some trace of Indian classical music, ambient electronic and new age
jazz - fusion.
She is a household name. Many acknowledge her
as having powerfully contributed to a resurgence of Bhikhari Thakur traditions
in Bhojpuri. Kalpana Patowary combines a powerful singing
style with a magnetic ability to communicate with her audiences.
She has been recognized with
Bhikhari Thakur Samman in Calcutta, Bhikhari Thakur Samman in Jamshedpur, Swar
Samragee , Bhojpuri Swar Mallika, Bhojpuri Sewa Samman, Bhojpuri Sangam Samman,
Panchamrit Samman, Atkrista Gayak Samman, The Bhojpuri Queen to name a few. She was entitled with “Bhojpuri Samragee” and “Swar
Kokila” for popularity contribution
to folk music of Bihar by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
government.
She
had many opportunities to sing for Hindi films and has already play blacked in
more than 100 Hindi feature film. A few of them are R..Rajkumar(Gandi BaatCLICK), Akrosh(Tere
Ishq Se Meetha), Khatta Meetha(Aila Re Aila),Welcome(Ek Uncha Lamba Kad),No Problem(Shakira Bhi Se Zyada Tera Hille lakn i & Babe Di Kripa),De
Dana Dan(Hotty Notty), Billu(Billu Bhayankar), Chamku(Dukh Ke Badri),Mirchh(Tikhi Tikhi Mirch - Folk version), Chand ke paar chalo(Dhin chak lad Gayee),Stumped(Ek Sapna- western version), Sandhya(Mohabbat Mohabbat) ,88 Antop hill, Antardwand, etc.
She got International acclaim with the
release of her Bhojpuri musical documentation on the Shakespeare of Bhojpuri
Literature – The Legacy of Bhikhari Thakur from EMI/Virgin Records which got nominated for GIMA 2013*Global Indian Music Academy Awards in the BestFolk Album category.
Her latest album to be released in 2013 is Maa-e-ri – A Lyrical conversation
with Mother Nature which documents the perils about the Law of Nature and urges
respect for the Nature’s laws for a sustainable future.
She is also working on a musical
documentation to lay down connections for the future, about the reformer, a
wandering philosopher, saint and poet, creative genius and consummate artist
MAHAPURUSH SRIMANTO SHANKARDEVA and his disciple SRIMANTA MADHAVDEVA in Assam
who walked across Northern India, to the source of the Ganges and returned to
his people in the cloistered valley of Assam and called for a union of all the
people in a united Bharatvarsha. He preached Eka-Sarana-Nama-Dharma a
monotheistic doctrine based on the Bhagvata Purana with Surdas, Chandidas,
Kabir, Vidyapati the Maithili Poet and Lyricist, Mirabai, Narsi Mehta the poet
saint and Bhakta from Gujarat, Vallabhacharya the devotional philosopher from
Andhra, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of Bengal at a time when a young 24 year old Guru
Nanak was also exploring his own vision of Eka-Sarana-Nama-Dharma which he went
on to preach throughout the world as “Ek Omkar Satnam”. It was the dawn of the
Bhakti Era. The language used is BRAJAWALI and she will be credited of bringing
back some of Assams primitive instruments in collaboration for the first time
with Trilok Gurtu, son of legendary vocalist Shobha Gurtu - master of Indian
music, tabla, percussion, and Western drumming who plays a unique hybrid
East-West drum set up @ Guru Rewben Mashangva Father of Naga folk blues.
As Kalpana says, I don’t want my folk music
to be trapped in our villages. Yes it’s safe there in its original form, but of
no use unless we make the world hear our very soulful and meditative music. So
to make it global I am trying to blend the music of my homeland with world
music and other genres. Hats off to you Kalpana on your effort to expose
Assamese folk traditions & Bhojpuri artistic traditions into Indian
mainstream music scene.
USP@ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpana_Patowary
