Stealing spotlight with 'Upo', 'Borai Kore' and now 'Mathura', who is this Ankan

Six years ago, on a stormy, rainy night in Khulna, Ankan Kumar wrote the song ‘Mathura’. At that time, he had not yet made a name for himself as a musician.

The song, which grew out of his surroundings, his interests and his feelings of love, has now found a place on Coke Studio Bangla. It was released on 24 September. In four days, the song’s video had been viewed more than 3.3 million times.

‘Mathura’ was inspired by nature, Ankan’s own emotions and the various complexities of love. The song echoes the incompleteness of love, separation and unspoken feelings. Later, when Coke Studio Bangla was planning its new season, he discussed with the team regarding the track.

“I really like the guitar and percussion, so those elements were kept in the song,” Ankan said. The sounds of rainstorms and thunder were also included in the track's musical arrangement.

There is no specific love story behind ‘Mathura’. Rather, familiar emotions associated with romantic relationships have come together in the song. According to Ankan, every love story is different but the emotions are often similar.

In his words, “If you look at it, every song has the same kind of story but at the same time, there is no story. Each one is a different story. It's something everyone can relate to, I guess.”

Ankan does not exactly consider music his profession. For him, music is something he loves. In his free time, he paints, plays football and travels. He also enjoys Bengali food.

Describing his lifestyle, he said, “Professionally speaking, my work is basically project-based. If there is a project, I am there. The rest of the time, I am not really around. I paint, play football, like visiting beautiful places and I really enjoy eating good Bengali food.”

He then put his relationship with music more simply, “Basically, I make music. Music is something I really love.”

Love and emotional longing keep returning in Ankan’s music. He traces that connection back to his childhood. He grew up listening to old Bengali songs at home. His parents’ favourites included songs by Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Atul Prasad Sen, Rajanikanta Sen, Kabir and Lalon. Listening to those songs shaped his musical taste.

“I really liked songs from the ’80s and ’90s. I used to listen to them a lot,” Ankan said.

He later trained in classical music. “Even after learning classical music, I always had a different kind of attraction towards Nazrul’s songs. I used to think that if I ever wrote a song for myself when I grew up, I would make something in a semi-classical style,” he said.

His released songs, including ‘Upo’, ‘Borai Kore’ and ‘Long Distance Love’, have resonated well with audiences. Asked what accounts for their success, Ankan did not point to any particular formula.

Explaining his approach to music, he said, “I make things this way so that I can remain as honest as possible to the different emotions in a song. That’s what I try to do with most of my songs.”

About a month ago, Ankan sang with Habib Wahid on the song ‘Ek Ami’. Working with Habib Wahid remains a particularly memorable experience for him.

“Habib bhai is a producer and musician. He does everything together. What can I say? Habib bhai is amazing. From the tune of my part to the background music, everything was done by Habib bhai,” Ankan said.

Although his work on Coke Studio Bangla is over, Ankan is busy with new music. He has already done experimental recordings of several songs. After the main recording and music production are completed, he plans to release them.

“After the trial recordings, we will move on to the main recording. Then we will release them,” he said.

He has two or three EPs in the works. One will feature pop and R&B songs, while another will be entirely R&B. Ankan is also preparing a separate EP for himself.

In that EP, he plans to return to the atmosphere of old Bengali songs. He also plans to include several more songs written by himself.