'Chhuti' or 'Chhutti', the sixth musical offering from our HoiChoi, has probably taken the longest time to be made. It is more than a year now that Subhadip composed a really melodious Greek-folk inspired music from which the main melody of this song is derived (though in its present form, it is hard to believe that it is anything but Indian. Hopefully, sometime later, we will be able to put up an instrumental version of the original melody he composed). Initially, Indranil had put some words in Bangla for the tune that were going really well with the melody. Soma also started singing. I don't really know why, but then I felt an urge to compliment the Bangla emotions in Hindi! A big writer that I am, I cannot describe the struggle I faced to write those few lines. (And now, that the song is live, my joy cannot be described enough.) But excuse me, for I am not a poet like Indranil, so I didn't even try to capture the level of abstraction present in his words. What we have now, is a unique blend where the two languages are beautifully intertwined.
When the lyrics and the music were ready, we felt it should be sung by two singers of two different personalities... and so it was shelved for some time. Then, this summer, two good things happened. Ravi, who is about to submit his PhD thesis, joined us with his guitar (he also can sing) and Sara's family moved in as our neighbor. The project was revived once again, with more energy from a bigger team. Young Sara has a steady and strong voice - giving a nice contrast to Soma's smooth voice (I must say, over the last one year and a half, Soma's voice has really become something!). As rehearsals went on, the music started evolving. Probably because of Ravi's preference for Hindi music, the song slowly started taking an Indian guise. Oscillating between major and suspended chords, the arrangement came out as a mix of jazz and folk impressions. Abhishek and I joined the chorus.
This time, we tried our hands on many new things. Live piano, guitar, and percussion added to the spirit of the song. Ravi had all the crazy ideas about video shooting. He insisted that we could really go outdoor. I was skeptical, given our limited resources and experience. Because of Ravi's insistence, we went to a place around Gandipet lake to look for a suitable location. The place had a big expanse of rock formations - it was just superb. All of us agreed.
We recorded the video over two days. Two of Ravi's friends, Basant and Satyajit, drove us in their cars (thank you guys! A treat is waiting!). But the stars of the day were definitely the three kids - Niharika, Srishti, and Reba.
Though a bit long, “Chhuti/Chhutti” has been quite a memorable journey.
- Kavita
Credits
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Music Composed & Arranged by
Subhadip Mitra
Bangla Lyrics by Indranil Chakrabarty
Hindi Lyrics by Kavita Mitra
Vocals (Lead)
Soma Chakrabarty & Sara Aparajita
Vocals (Support)
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Subhadip Mitra, Abhishek Sarkar & Kavita Mitra
Guitar
Ravi Shankar Prasad
Piano
Subhadip Mitra
Percussion
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kavita Mitra & Subhadip Mitra
Audio Editing, Mixing & Mastering
Subhadip Mitra
Direction
Kavita Mitra
Camera
Subhadip Mitra, Ravi Shankar Prasad & Kavita Mitra
Video Editing
Kavita Mitra & Subhadip Mitra
Camera Arrangement
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kavita Mitra
Transport Arrangement
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Satyajit Tourani & Basant Sharma
Video Appearance (Alphabetical)
Abhishek Sarkar, Basant Sharma, Indranil Chakrabarty, Kavita Mitra, Niharika Chakrabarty, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rewa Anahita, Sara Aparajita, Satyajit Tourani, Soma Chakrabaty, Srishti Mitra & Subhadip Mitra
Special Thanks to
Laltu (for subtitle translations)
Gursharanjit Singh (for Audio Interface)
Sanjib Kumar Mitra (for helpful suggestions)
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Composed & Arranged by
Subhadip Mitra
Bangla Lyrics by Indranil Chakrabarty
Hindi Lyrics by Kavita Mitra
Vocals (Lead)
Soma Chakrabarty & Sara Aparajita
Vocals (Support)
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Subhadip Mitra, Abhishek Sarkar & Kavita Mitra
Guitar
Ravi Shankar Prasad
Piano
Subhadip Mitra
Percussion
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kavita Mitra & Subhadip Mitra
Audio Editing, Mixing & Mastering
Subhadip Mitra
Direction
Kavita Mitra
Camera
Subhadip Mitra, Ravi Shankar Prasad & Kavita Mitra
Video Editing
Kavita Mitra & Subhadip Mitra
Camera Arrangement
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kavita Mitra
Transport Arrangement
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Satyajit Tourani & Basant Sharma
Video Appearance (Alphabetical)
Abhishek Sarkar, Basant Sharma, Indranil Chakrabarty, Kavita Mitra, Niharika Chakrabarty, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rewa Anahita, Sara Aparajita, Satyajit Tourani, Soma Chakrabaty, Srishti Mitra & Subhadip Mitra
Special Thanks to
Laltu (for subtitle translations)
Gursharanjit Singh (for Audio Interface)
Sanjib Kumar Mitra (for helpful suggestions)
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