‘He was not at all calculating, what I see in many singers today.’
IMAGE: Zubeen Garg performs at the North-East Gorkha Festival, December 29, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo
“He has sung a lot of Assamese songs. He was a good composer, he was a good actor,” Composer Jeet Ganguly, a close friend of singer Zubeen Garg who died while swimming in the sea in Singapore on Friday, tells Subhash K Jha.
How did you react to the sudden death?
It is still to sink in. Zubeen Garg was not only a singer, he was an emotion.
He was an emotion, he is an emotion for us. I have done many songs with him in Bengali, all chartbusters.
You were very close to him?
Apart from singing and playing instruments, he was a very good friend of mine for 30 years.
Zubeen was such a singer, when he used to sing, he never used to think that this is such a big film, we are getting such a big budget, we are getting such a big fee. He didn’t care about the money or the stature of the project. That’s why when he used to sing, he used to sing from his heart.
A pureheart?
He was not at all calculating, what I see in many singers today. This is a very big lesson in my life.
And other singers and composers will feel the same. Zubeen was such a good man. A pure soul, that’s what Zubeen was.
He wasn’t heard too much in Hindi?
He has sung a lot of songs in Bengali and Assamese.
He has sung some songs in Hindi. But he didn’t like Bombay very much.
He wanted to work in the regional market. He has sung a lot of Bengali songs with me. He has sung Hindi too, but he has sung more Bengali songs.
And he has sung a lot of Assamese songs. He was a good composer, he was a good actor. He has also given direction in the film.
Multi-talented?
He used to live like a king. And he had his own will. Dost ho toh aisa.
I have very few friends in my life. But Zubeen Garg was such a friend of mine for 30 years.
I will never forget him. And I will always think that he is with me.
Namaste. Om Shanti.
