'Darale Duaarey': Coke Studio Bangla's redemption song

This year's Eid-ul-Fitr brought in a flurry of things – new music, movies, web series, drama and whatnot, especially record high heat. Covid-19 had cast a long shadow over the cultural arena and we suffered a near-famine in entertainment terms, and so all this came as a welcome onslaught (minus the heat).

There was little confusion on whether Eid was on Saturday or Sunday. A lot of productions were awaiting the auspicious night of the 'Chand Raat' to release their new creations on. When the Eve of Eid was actually confirmed as Friday, Coke Studio Bangla wasted not a second to release their fourth single of Season 2 – 'Darale Duaarey'.

If the title – if you will – sounds like a Nazrul geeti, you are right. And for those who already knew it was in fact a song by our treasured national poet, they were in for a treat!

The long awaited rain that evening came out of nowhere, cooling the entire city. As Eid was being announced on mosque PA systems, a friend of mine messaged saying, "Coke Studio Bangla just dropped a new song! Go listen." I frantically typed 'Coke Studio Bangla season 2 new song' because I didn't even know the name of the song. The song came in like the rain did: unannounced.

I rushed back to text my friend: "what's the name of the song?" At the back of my mind, I was starting to worry if it might be a song like the season's third song 'Nahubo' by Animes Roy ft Daughter of Coastal, the artist's stage name. 

At this point, I must warn that I am smitten with Animes' voice and singing, but unfortunately, Nahubo was not his A Game – something that happens to the best of us.

Anyhow, the song began past Armeen Musa's breathy voice – something that reminds me of Chris Rea – announcing "Coke Studio Bangla, Season 2". The sweet melody of sarengi, a string instrument central to Hindustani classical music, blared on the speaker. The easy breeze outside accompanied by the sound of drizzles and the sarengi prelude hit me like a train. My pupils dilated, I assume.

A short piano medley buffered the vocals and the sarengi. Mukul Mojumder Ishaan began singing Nazrul's self-composed and written raga sangeet, pouring figurative water into a thirsty person's empty cup. I shut out other thoughts to focus on the song.

"I had a great time working with such prominent artists of our music industry, and in the process, I learned a lot from them. Being able to sing such a beautiful song by our national poet made this experience surreal," Ishaan said, when I asked him how it felt singing a Nazrul geeti on a platform such as the Coke Studio.

Noticeably, season 2 music videos have more vibrance compared to season 1, insomuch as there are actual dance performances to enjoy, besides the song itself. Everyone on set was wearing mirror-studded white costumes, adding to the song's "subhra" (fair) air, including the dancer performing 'jalsha nritya', gliding gracefully across the set.

In the background, a triple-violin choir and cello set were constantly filling in the nooks and crannies of the beats on the tabla. 

The song originally known as 'Darale Duare Mor' is a combination of the ragas 'Pahari Misra' and 'Dadra'. The raga Pahari comes from the folk tunes of Kashmir. Need I stress more on how peaceful the song was? 

Also, the backing vocalists' choir of three filled in the harmonics to a degree that did justice to the song.

Between verses, a mandolin variant and steel-string guitar added to the already heightened dimensions of the song, of course accompanied by the sarengi wherever possible.

But a Coke Studio song is hardly ever sung by a single artist, right? The six-minute long song was almost down four minutes, but no other singer was heard from yet. At that very moment, Sanzida Mahmood Nandita broke her silence, singing in a dreamy voice. The set was now complete.

This was Nandita's second appearance in a Coke Studio Bangla song. Her last performance was in another Nazrul geeti - 'Bulbuli', performing alongside Ritu Raj.

Together everyone performed immaculately till the end of the song, note for note. After listening to the song, my friend texted me again saying, "The kind of troubles Coke Studio Bangla got into with Nahubo, they solved it all in one fell swoop with Darale Duaarey."

"I have heard a lot of renditions of Darale Duare Mor from many singers, Manabendra Mukherjee for example. It's a very difficult song, but Ishaan sang it so beautifully, calmly and easily. The audience and people close to me said they had goosebumps hearing it," Nandita said, feeling emotional.