Folk veteran Ratan Kahar collaborates on Bengali version of Badshah’s ‘Gendaphool’

Veteran Bengali folk artiste Ratan Kahar has added his creative touch to a new Bengali version of the hit track Gendaphool by rapper Badshah.

Earlier this year, Badshah had to fend against plagiarism accusations after the release of his single, “Gendaphool”. Chunks of song, including its hook, were lifted off Kahar’s Bengali folk classic “Borolokerbiti lo”. At that time, the rapper had acted swiftly to do damage control. Amidst lockdown, he reached out to Kahar and deposited money into the veteran folk artiste’s bank account.

Now, a new Bengali version with a touch of classical percussion, titled “GendaPhoolTabla Folk Mix”, has been launched. The song has been ideated and composed by tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh and the music video has been directed by veteran Bengali actor-filmmaker Arindam Sil, who retained bits of Badshah’s original song video. Kahar has sung parts of the new song with National Award-winning Bengali singer Iman Chakraborty. The video features Bickram, Kahar, Iman, Devlina Kumar, Badshah and Jacqueline Fernandez.

Getting Kahar and Chakraborty to be part of the version was Bickram Ghosh’s idea.

“I am excited to know how people perceive the song with the tabla mix. We have added contrasting elements to the song — a rap-tablajugalbandi with EDM. Folk music, Hindustani percussion style and rap make for quite a unique fusion. As a musician, I am always looking to push the envelope. I hope we have surprised the listeners,” Ghosh said.

Director Sil added: “Who would have imagined ‘Gendaphool’ with this unusual flavour? The intention behind packing in so many elements was to entertain viewers and listeners in the best possible way through music.”

Meanwhile, “Gendaphool”, also sung by Payal Dev, has garnered over 550 million views till now. The song also has Pahari and Gujarati versions.