Bhasker and Shivangi Bhandare talk about the making of ‘Aso Ho Paavs’, their first original Konkani song about a young woman’s one-sided love
RAMANDEEP KAUR
After years of classical training and stage performances, singer Shivangi Bhandare has released her first original Konkani song, ‘Aso Ho Paavs’. The song is about a young woman who falls in love at first sight with a boy who does not know she exists. On a rainy day, she expresses her feelings.
Her interest in music began in childhood after watching her father, a singer, perform. She began training in Indian classical music at the age of 10, with her mother providing constant support. She later won several singing competitions. After marriage, her husband, Bhasker, encouraged her to pursue semi-classical music.
An IT engineer by profession, Bhasker started writing in 2015 when his first article on an engineering project was published in a local newspaper. He has since written more than 60 articles in Marathi and English, along with poetry and website content.
The Margao-based couple initially planned to commission a songwriter and produce the track professionally. However, high production costs and the limited availability of Konkani lyricists made them take on the project themselves.
Bhasker says the idea of writing a Konkani song had been on his mind for more than a year. “Despite Konkani being Goa’s official language and spoken across the State, comparatively fewer original Konkani songs are produced. Marathi has a larger market and producing a Konkani song also requires a considerable budget,” he adds.
While Bhasker wrote the lyrics and handled the concept and cinematography, Shivangi recorded the vocals. The music was composed by Siddhiraj Shetye, who has over five years of experience in music production. Shivangi says, “We tried several tunes before finalising one that we felt people could connect with.”
They first considered making a performance video but later wrote a storyline for the song. Since the video was based on a rain theme, filming involved repeated takes, while some parts of the script were modified due to the small cast available for certain scenes. “Shivangi’s suggestions during the shoot made directing the video easier.”
The video was shot on Bhasker’s phone and released on Shivangi’s YouTube channel under SB Productions, while mixing and mastering were done at Shri-raj Studios, Bicholim. The song will also be available on Spotify, from today.
The duo are working on new ideas but plan to focus on quality rather than quantity. Bhasker states, “Our aim is to contribute to Konkani music and do our bit to preserve our mother tongue, heritage and culture.”
