INFORMATION
| Artist Birthday : | 24/03/1976 (Age 48) |
| Born In : | Nagaon, Assam, India |
| Occupation(s) : | Singer-Song Writer |
| Genres : | Electronic fusion, Indian/ Assamese classical, Indian/ Assamese folk, acoustic folk, playback singing, jazz and ghazals. |
Best known as Papon, Angarag Mahanta is a playback singer from Assam who has made a big name for himself in Bollywood. His parents Khagen Mahanta and Archana Mahanta are both Assamese folk singers and he spent his early years in Assam. He took up the musical tradition from his family and started learning Indian classical, devotional Borgeet and folk music.
Though he is a vocalist, he is also an accomplished instrumentalist and can play the harmonium, guitar, table and khol. Apart from acoustic folk, he also splurges in ambient electronic and new-age Indian classical music. He has sung several songs in his native language Assamese, but his works can be found in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali and Mishing.
Papon started with Assamese albums. His first album was Junaki Raati released towards the end of 2004. His second album was Sinaaki Osinaaki, released in 2009. He has touched almost every aspect of regional life with his songs, albums and collaborations. His first folk album was Ragphul, followed by Gomseng and Phagunor Gaan. He also performed a popular Bihu song “Pak Pak” in the first season of Coke Studio @MTV, followed by another song called “Tokari.” He has appeared in three seasons of the series.
His first big hit in Bollywood was for the movie Dum Maro Dum in which his soulful voice touched the heart of every Indian with the song “Jiyein Kyu.” Then came a series of hit songs starting with “Kyon” for the movie Barfi. He then sang several hit songs including “Humnava” for Hamari Adhuri Kahani and his biggest hit of all times “Moh ke Dhaage” for the movie Dum Laga Ke Haisha. The song earned him several awards as well, including the Best Male Playback singer IIFA.
His other popular songs include “Bulleya” for the movie Sultan, “Kaun Mera” for Special 26, “Tu Jo Mila” for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, “Main Tujhse Pyaar Nahi Karta” for Baby and “Tera Chaav Laga” for Sui Dhaaga.
He formed a electronic folk-fusion band called Papon and the East India Company in 2007. He has performed with notable artists like Karsh Kale and MIDIval Punditz at several music festivals like the Oslo World Music Festival, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival and Paleo Music Festival in Switzerland. He has also collaborated with the Welling Jazz Bank from Wellington, New Zealand.
Papon is married to Shweta Mishra and has two children, a daughter named Parijaat and son named Puhor.
