For 20 years, the idea has lived within Papon. When he finally began working on Mehfilz with Papon, it took eight years of him — the songs, collaborating with lyricist Irshad Kamil, and giving a new interpretation to ghazals. With three of its songs released, the singer and composer sits down for a chat with mid-day to break down why he felt the urge to popularise ghazals among the youth.
Excerpts from the interview.
What triggered Mehfilz with Papon?
This idea has been with me for the past 20 years. Ghazals have been a childhood love for me. I wanted to [create] this vibe of mehfil — in a mehfil, you do not sing to an audience alone; you also sing to yourself and friends. You sit in a circle, with a friend playing the guitar, somebody playing the tabla, and so on. I wanted to bring that to life.
Meiyang Chang, Saumya Tandon and Pankaj Tripathi
What made you rope in Pankaj Tripathi, Saumya Tandon, and Meiyang Chang in your album?
When we started developing the album, many ideas were thrown by people to make the video popular. I was told to get influencers or actors. I was not comfortable with inviting people because I was not sure how it was going to shape up. So, I thought of inviting friends, who would come to the moon with me if I called them. Pankaj Tripathi is like a brother. When I spoke to him about this, he said, ‘I am coming’.
Is the album your attempt also to revive ghazals?
It’s my attempt to change the sound of ghazals while keeping the ethos of good poetry [alive]. Sound has to change in every generation and era. You cannot have one sound [throughout] because then it goes into the archive. We have had great ghazals from Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhasji, Talat Azizji, and Hariharan. But now, it has to go to the newer generation. For that, [the sound needs to] stay relevant to the times. The poetry also has to change and reflect the language of the youth today. I first tried to change the sound of ghazals in MTV Unplugged in 2012. Since it got an encouraging response, I now wanted to take it one step further.
Most artistes say that creating their own indie work brings them more satisfaction. Do you feel the same way?
Creating your own music is the way. I’ve always been doing it. Singing for films happened on the side, but I didn’t stop making independent music. An artiste has to make music to their aesthetics, philosophies, and ideas. I’m glad people in India are understanding that now.