Abhimanyu Mishra (BOMBAY TIMES; January 14, 2020)

His hit singles like Dhoom Pichuk Dhoom, Maeri and Aana Meri Gali are still fresh in the minds of music lovers. And even though his first song released 22 years back, Palash Sen’s energy, enthusiasm and his love for performing live only seem to be getting stronger. The frontman of Euphoria credits his success to his honesty towards music, the love his fans have showered on him and the fact that he has never gone solo in his career spanning over two decades. Palash, who was in Ahmedabad recently for a performance, spoke about the non-film music scene and how the audience has changed over the years. Excerpts:

You’ve been performing for a long time now. How has the audience changed over the years?
A lot has changed. There are so many diversions now. If you can’t capture the audience’s attention in the first 45 seconds, they will move on. That’s why remixes and recreated versions of old songs are ruling the charts.

These songs are only about that one catch line from an old hit song, which comes right in the beginning of the song. But, you will be surprised to know that the audience’s behaviour towards live performances has not changed. They still enjoy good live performances. This shows that good music is still appreciated.

You have said on several occasions that Bollywood has negatively impacted non-film music, and the quality of Bollywood music has been consistently going down. Do you still feel the same?
The problem started in the mid-2000s, when music companies started creating music for promotions. Before that, music was being created for its musicality. But now, music is only about business. How many singers from today’s generation can ensure captivating live concerts? Very few. Mainly because today’s songs are such that their sounds can’t be recreated on stage. Also, India has never had a music industry, we always had Bollywood and music was just a part of it. So, music in India gets treated the way Bollywood treats it. And right now, it’s just commercial.

You also said that music has become more visual now. But, hasn’t that always been the case? All your songs had videos starring Bollywood’s leading ladies.
See, the audio-visual medium has always been the strongest way to reach out to the audience. But now, it’s about numbers. My song got 500 million views, so it’s a hit. But the views, likes and dislikes, hits on a song etc. can be bought. Toh sahi mein kaunsa song hit ho raha hai, nobody knows. I have been creating songs for the last few years and none of them have managed such numbers. Actually, all the mediums of reaching out to the audience are controlled by companies, and unless you pay or do something controversial, you can’t achieve these numbers. If you say something controversial, it reaches huge numbers without any push. Then nobody questions it.

These days, a lot of celebs are speaking out on political issues. Do you also feel the need to do the same?
I speak my mind, but I never take sides. I would say it if I feel something is wrong. But these days, the entire system is pushing you to take sides and I am in the middle. I wrote a song in 2017 that said — Na main left ka, na main right ka, main beech mein latka. It has never been my position to pass judgement on anything, as there are always three sides to a story.

The singer-doctor backs the agitating doctors in West Bengal
Riya Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; June 17, 2019)

Joining the medical fraternity across the country, which has stood up in support of the doctors who are on strike in West Bengal since Thursday, singer and doctor Palash Sen shared a video on social media in which he called for the protection of doctors and shared similar incidents from his past. Junior doctors in West Bengal have been on strike after two of their colleagues at NRS Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, were attacked by the relatives of a patient who died at the hospital. In the video, the singer, who studied at University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) in Delhi, says, “I stand with the doctors in West Bengal.”

Telling us about two incidents when his father and a friend were assaulted, Palash says, “This happened in the late 1970s, when my father was a physician at Northern Railway Central Hospital. He was assaulted by the relatives of a patient who had died due to cardiac arrest. The relatives got unruly and hurled abuses, but my father did not say anything. When he came back home and told us about the incident, my mom asked him why he didn’t retaliate. My father said that it is difficult to lose a loved one and he understood their pain, so he let it go. A few years later, when I was studying at UCMS and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Delhi, one of my female friends faced a similar assault when a dead patient was brought to the hospital. Things got out of hand and all of us retaliated, but within few minutes, the police reached and helped us,” says Palash.

“What happened in Kolkata is unfortunate because people who are supposed to be protecting you are being assaulted and nobody is doing anything,” he adds.

Questioning the lack of security for doctors, Palash, says, “One can see a certain level of security checks at private hospitals, but people can come with as many relatives as they want at a government hospital. I think we need to first cut down the number of visitors with patients. Then, there should be police protection at all times in hospitals. The reality is that we, as doctors, can only treat a patient, we cannot cure someone because that is the job of God. Those who are protesting in Kolkata are all junior doctors who have just started their careers. We need to think of our future generation.” 

Frontman and singer Palash Sen calls the band's latest album a 'straight-ahead satire'
Soumya Vajpayee Tiwari (MID-DAY; October 26, 2016)

Their last studio album, Sharnaagat (2012), came as a pleasant surprise to critics as well as fans for being the band's first spiritual record with influences of pop, folk and blues. Now, after a hiatus of four years, Euphoria is set to cut a new album, 'Halla Bol', which, the outfit's frontman Dr Palash Sen, terms as a 'straight-ahead satire'.

"Halla Bol is the war cry of the meek. The project was born out of the need to encourage people to raise their voice against everything that's wrong, and stand up for what they believe in. All this has been done in our trademark quirky fashion," says Palash. The album will be unveiled a few weeks later. Euphoria had released a 'Halla Bol' single, jointly written by Palash and Deekshant Sahrawat, in June.

Mumbaikars can catch Euphoria perform live in the city on October 28 at Awestrung. "Mumbai is my second home. I have great memories of this place. This city loves me and Euphoria," he adds.

The singer-actor says the love of fans has kept them going through the years. "We never had any godfather, a big agency or anybody from the industry backing us. We made music, and people connected with it. That brought us closer and till date, they refuse to give up on us," he explains.

Though Euphoria composed the background score for the film Mumbai Cutting (2010), in which he also acted, Palash says Bollywood has never been the band's territory: "Bollywood has never really welcomed us with open arms, though they have adopted our sound. We remade our song, Sone De Maa, for Apoorva Lakhia's Shootout At Lokhandwala (2007). He used it beautifully."

He says he hasn't signed any film yet, but is "considering a couple of scripts". Which filmmaker's work excites him? He says, "My wishlist includes Pradeep Sarkar, Shoojit Sircar and Rajkumar Hirani."

Mohar Basu (BOMBAY TIMES; July 23, 2015)

Kasmin Fernandes (BOMBAY TIMES; January 8, 2015)