Angaraag Mahanta (born 24 November 1975), known by his stagename Papon, is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

from

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. Papon has also sung in many languages apart from Assamese like

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and Marathi. He is the lead vocalist and founder of the folk-fusion band ''Papon and The East India Company''.

Career

Papon started his musical career in 1998 with the Assamese song "Nasaba Sokule" from the album ''Snigdha Junak''. In 2004 he released his first album, ''Junaki Raati'' Papon made his debut in Bollywood with the song "Om mantra" from the film ''Strings - bound by faith'' in 2006. In 2011, his song was "Jiyein Kyun" from the movie '' Dum Maro Dum'' which was his first big hit''.'' In 2014, he sang "Lakeerein", which is a poem by Gulzar, for the film '' Kya Dilli Kya Lahore'' and "Sun RI Bavli" for Nagesh Kukunoor's film ''

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

''. In 2015, he sang "Moh moh ke dhage" for the film '' Dum Laga Ke Haisha'' and "Humnava" in ''

Hamari Adhuri Kahani ''Hamari Adhuri Kahani'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mahesh Bhatt under the banner Vishesh Films and Fox Star Studios. The film stars Emraan Hashmi, Vidya Balan, and Rajkumma ...

'' (2015). In 2016, he sang "Bulleya" for the film ''

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

.'' In August 2016,

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwide, inclu ...

released "Hometown Heroes," a seven-part documentary web series that revisits the story of Papon's youth and rising career. Papon's 2018 song "Baba Bolta Hain Bas Ho Gaya", from the movie '' Sanju'', comments on differences between the real Sanju and the "reel" Sanju.

Television

In 2013, Papon was responsible for the theme song for MTV Roadies X: Battle for Glory – "Jajabor" (Jajabor being an Assemese word for yayavar - "traveler"). In 2017, he was one of the judge in

The Voice India Kids ''The Voice India Kids'' is an Indian singing reality competition television series that airs on &TV or StarPlus. The series is produced by Endemol India. Kumar Priyadarshi is one of the editors of The Voice India Kids. Format This show base ...

Film

Band

In 2007, Papon formed an electronic folk-fusion band called Papon and The East India Company. The band consists of Papon on vocals, Brin Desai and Hameem Kader on live electronics, Jinti on lead guitars, Kirti on percussion and Dipu on bass and Tanmay on Drums The six members came from backgrounds varying from Assamese folk to metal and blues to

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

. The band has performed twice at the SAARC Music Band Festival in New Delhi, the Eastwind Festival, and the Kovalam Literary Festival and has performed overseas with Sutasi in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. The band took a two-year break in the wait for a solo album which was released internationally at the end of 2011. The band is back in action in November with 4 big festivals in the same month. They also played at the October Fest in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, NH7 Weekender fest in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and the Rock for Rights concert in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

Personal life and education

His father, Khagen Mahanta, died on 12 June 2014. He now lives in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

with his wife Shweta Mishra Mahanta. They have two children. He initially went there for Architecture but late enrolled himself to a degree in English Literature in Delhi University. His spent some time in Ramjas College before he shifted to Moti Lal Nehru College. He eventually dropped out on the 3rd year of college.

Controversies

Papon, who was a mentor and judge on

, on

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live-streaming from his own page was seen putting Holi colors on an 11-year-old girl, and was alleged on media and social media to have kissed her. On 24 Feb 2018, The police lodged a case against him after a complaint from the Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Along with the other contestants present on the video streaming and their respective guardians, the parents of the minor also denied allegations against Papon stating that it was fatherly love shown by Papon and there was no kiss. He left the reality TV show as judge due to the allegations. A court of law later found insufficient reason to charge Papon based on the police investigation reports and closed the case and stated that the case arose due to a mistake of fact.

Collaborations

Papon has featured in albums which carry the labels of MDR Records, in a collaboration with Times Music, and has also featured in the soundtrack of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

films '' Dum Maaro Dum'', ''

I Am Kalam ''I Am Kalam'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language drama film produced by the non-governmental charity Smile Foundation and directed by Nila Madhab Panda, cinematography by Mohana Krishna. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh Mayar. T ...

'', ''

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

'', ''Patang'', and most recently ''Barfi!''. He also featured on the Indian leg of the show Coke Studio @ MTV. He performed on the show

Global Indian Film Awards Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA) was an awards ceremony held between 2005 and 2007, conceptualized to acknowledge excellence in the Indian Film industry and honour artists in 28 categories across various genres, from acting to film making. It is ...

with MIDIval Punditz,

Kailash Kher Kailash Kher (born 7 July 1973) is an Indian music composer and singer. He sings songs with a music style influenced by Indian folk music and Sufi music. He was inspired by the classical musicians' Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Pandit Hridaynath Ma ...

and

Shubha Mudgal Shubha Mudgal (born 1 January 1959) is an Indian singer of Hindustani classical music. Her repertoire includes the genres of khyal, thumri, dadra, and Indian pop. She has received the Padma Shri in 2000. Early life Shubha was born in Allah ...

. He also appeared on Star world India, Episode six of The Dewarists with Rabbi Shergill and recorded a song "Khule Da Rabb". Papon has also worked with Shantanu Moitra in the 4th season of The Dewarists for 'O Megh' which is inspired by Rabindranath Tagore's poem of same name.

Discography

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Papon Living people Indian male singer-songwriters Indian singer-songwriters Bollywood playback singers Assamese playback singers Musicians from Guwahati People from Nagaon district People from Guwahati Indian male pop singers Screen Awards winners International Indian Film Academy Awards winners Indian male playback singers Singers from Assam Singers from Guwahati Indian folk-pop singers 1975 births Ramjas College alumni