Phul bhanchha phulirahu
Jun bhanchha chamkirahu
Maan ta bhanchha sabaisanga
Maya moha rakhi rahu
Bachunjellai
Bachunjellai.[break]
One of Nepal’s most influential contemporary singers, Ram Krishna Dhakal, will be releasing an iconic song in his upcoming album, “Bachunjel.” The title song for the album is a collaboration between Dhakal and the Indian diva Lata Mangeshkar. The song, written by another well-known figure in Nepali music, Anand Adhikari, speaks of human compassion. Adhikari has always been a backbone to Dhakal’s music because of his involvement as a lyricist in almost all of his music, including such smash hits like “Pahadko Chhuk Chhuke Rail” and “Daiba Tero.” Mangeshkar, the veteran Indian singer, loves singing in different languages with her collection of songs spanning 36 regional Indian languages.
“Bachunjel is a song about life lessons and how people need to live as long as they’re alive,” says Adhikari who has composed songs for many Bollywood movies and has worked with artistes like Shaan, Kailash Kher, Javed Ali and Saurav Shrivastav, adding, “I wrote this song especially with Mangeshkar in mind because I knew that at this age, she would not be interested in singing love songs and “Bachunjel” is a song about life-lessons and about compassion and I wanted the song to be beyond boundaries and universally encompassing, and that is the primary reason why I wanted Mangeshkar to sing it. It was a dream, her singing it, and when it actually became a reality, I realized that if you strive to do something good, everything works out in the end.”
Mangeshkar’s collaboration with Dhakal will be her third Nepali recording till date and “Bachunjel,” a song many people have been looking forward to, has been in Dhakal’s pipeline for a very long time. Composer of the single, Shikhar Santosh Sharma, seems to be the mind behind the idea and has been working very hard to get Mangeshkar to do the collaboration. Sharma, living in Mumbai for a decade, has worked with big names in the Indian music industry like Kailash Kher, Sunidhi Chauhan and Abhijeet Sawant.
“I am very excited about this song because I’m the first local Nepali singer to collaborate with Lata Mangeshkar,” shares Dhakal. “This song is very important for the Nepali music scene because it marks a step forward for Nepali music. In a way, we’re making music internationally. People who listen to Mangeshakar will definitely listen to my side of the song as well and that helps take Nepali music to a different height,” he adds.
Ram Krishna Dhakal’s “Bachunjel” is scheduled for release on the first week of September.
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