Ratan Kahar willing to talk to Badshah

Octogenarian folk musician

Ratan Kahar

’s phone has been ringing off the hook since a controversy erupted over rapper Badshah using Boro Loker

Beti Lo

as the catchphrase in his latest single, Genda Phool. “So many people are constantly calling me up. I’m liking this actually,” he told us over phone from Siuri in

Birbhum

.

As for the controversy, the 84-year-old who was also a lyricist for Akashvani, said, “How can I blame him (Badshah) when my fellow musicians in Kolkata didn’t acknowledge me? If he comes and talks to me, I will surely listen to him.”

Incidentally, it was singer Swapna Chakraborty who made Boro Loker Beti Lo popular in 1976. But in her album, the tune was credited to composer Chandrakanta Nandi while the lyrics attribution was simply procholito (traditional folk). But Kahar claims that not only did he write the lyrics but also composed the song. “I wrote the song in 1972 and song it in several shows. But I am a poor bidi maker. Who would listen to me? Even Swapna didn’t. After this one, another song, Thele Maaler Gari Chapabo Bosta, was recorded. This time, they gave me credit as the lyricist, but not as a composer,” Ratan said, adding, “But people always loved me. I performed Bhadu gaan (a genre of folk music) in different places. I have always been loved by the audience. And I am thankful for that,” he said.

When contacted, Swapna said she’s ‘disgusted’ with the controversy. “Badshah has humiliated the song,” she said. Speaking about her relationship with Kahar, the veteran singer said, “We come from the same locality. Our families share a very good rapport.”

She added that Boro Loker Beti Lo was release along with another hit,

Thakurjamai

Elo Barite. “Both the songs were massive hits. I was an unknown young singer from a remote village. I remember that the music for both the songs was attributed to Chandrakanta Nandi. While the lyrics credit for Thakurjamai was given to

Ashanandan Chattaraj

, Boro Loker Beti was labelled traditional. It is difficult to identify the original lyricists of folk songs. You can only collect the songs. This controversy is damaging the reputation of Bengali folk culture. It should end,” Swapna said.

According veteran musician Barun Kumar Pal, who worked with Akashvani Kolkata in the ’70s, Ratan Kahar shot into the limelight in the early part of the decade when several artistes, musicians and

composers

discovered his talent. He was employed as a lyricist for Akashvani. "Most singers and composers were sympathetic towards him since he was talented and came from an impoverished background. Everyone wanted to help him out," he said.

For a few years, Ratan worked with the singers and composers attached to Akashvani, his lyrics touching a chord with audiences all over Bengal. This was also the golden era for

Bangla

Geeti, or traditional folk songs, which reflected the predominantly rural Bengali ethos. "Singers such as Runa Laila and Swapna Chakraborty recorded these songs and helped popularise them," said Pal.

Even as the songs acquired a life of their own, especially Boro Loker Beti Lo, Ratan, who was never really in the spotlight even then, slipped further away into anonymity