James set to rock India

This Bangladeshi rock star is making waves with his hit from Gangster, reports Ritujay Ghosh.

The success of the Gangster number Bheegi bheegi has made James a star overnight in Bollywood, but the Bangladeshi rock star is a household name in his country where he has been idolised by youngsters for about two decades. However, the success of Bheegi bheegi certainly matters a lot to the singer as this has made him more popular back home.

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“I didn’t know that this one song would make me so popular in Bangladesh, where Hindi is a foreign language. People are crazy about Bollywood. So they consider this as a huge success for me,” says James.

The singer is in India for the first time since recording of the song, which was a recreation of Gautam Chattopadhyay’s Bengali ever-popular number Prithibi.

A big smile breaks out on the singer’s face when he learns that the song has got an equally overwhelming response in India. “Oh, is it so! Has it become a hit over here, too? I did not have any idea but I am really happy to know that it is being liked by all,” he says.

The success of the Gangster number Bheegi bheegi has made James a star overnight in Bollywood. Photo credit: Salil Bera

The Bangladeshi rock star was very nervous about rendering the Hindi recreation of Prithibi, a cult song by Chattopadhyay, the pioneer of Bangla band music.

James is in love with Hindi and with Bollywood, where his Bangla songs have been greatly appreciated by the music directors, which has made him think bigger in terms of his music.

“I am coming out with a Hindi album that will be a compilation of my hit Bangla songs that have been translated and recreated for the Hindi-speaking audience,” says James.

The singer plans to release the album, for which the music will be composed by Gangster music director Pritam, by early next year.

James, who is popular in his country as a rebel baul-rock singer, has a number of hits such as Didimoni, Meerabai, Dushtu chele, Ami tarai tarai and Jail theke bolchi to his credit.

The singer is now also concentrating on his Bollywood career and has already bagged another offer. “I have sung another song Chal chale in Mohit Suri’s Woh Lamhe. It is a soft rock number and the lyrics are very touching,” says James who always wears black on stage as the lyrics of his songs are very painful.

“I want to work more in Hindi films as there is a lot of scope for experimentation,” he says.

James admits that he still has problems in understanding Hindi. “But it has nothing to do with singing. I write the script in Bangla. This is a rule followed all over the world when singers sing in some other language. I will be lying if I say I will learn Hindi in a few days. It is impossible to learn the language at this age,” he says.