Bengali folk anthem gets a touch of contemporary rap in Aleya Sen's upcoming direction

A still from the film

When director Aleya Sen set out to make Trial Period, she was certain that not only the songs needed to be in sync with the storyline but also convey the emotions of the principal characters in those situations. The JioCinema offering revolves around a single mother Ana, essayed by Genelia Deshmukh, living in Delhi with her six-year-old son Romi. Her world turns upside down when Romi demands a father on a month-long trial basis.

For the critical sequence when Prajapati Dwivedi's (Manav Kaul) trial period as Romi's father is coming to an end just before Diwali, Sen opted for Golemale, a famous Bengali Baul folklore song. It is significant as Kaul's character wrestles with his emotions, realising it is his last chance to express his feelings to his ladylove. What adds to the impact of the track is that the director has also brought in elements of rap, to make it an interesting dance number.

Aleya Sen

"Golemale pirit koro na is a Baul song that is like an anthem in Bengal that almost every Bengali has grown up with. It evokes a feeling of love, joy and longing," Sen says, sharing that when the scene was drafted, the song came naturally to her and fits into the narrative seamlessly. She elaborates, "The core of the song says that one should not go ahead and fall head over heels in love. There are dire consequences. It was an important call to take as I wanted the lyrics as they are. When [composer duo] Kaushik-Guddu came on board, they instantly got the pulse." Conceding that it is a challenge to create a rendition of a folk song that generations have been listening to since childhood, she says, "One of my reasons for using an authentic Bengali song is that music holds the power to connect with people in a profound sense. Golemale does exactly that while also adding a cultural layer to it. The song is beautifully composed by Kaushik Guddu and Shreya Ghoshal has added her magical touch to it! Choreography by Vijay Ganguly is nuanced and Genelia Deshmukh has done a fine job at performing it."

Sharing their view of incorporating the folk number, composer duo Kaushik-Guddu say, "The story hit to a point where we needed a song that would speak on behalf of the characters. That's where Golemale happened." Asserting that it is not an out-and-out romantic number, but a very old Baul Bengali folk song with a unique rhythm, the composer duo adds, "Even if you don't understand the lyrics, you will move to it. When we were briefed about the song, we were certain that we didn't want to disturb the melody because it has the biggest acceptance ever among the Bengalis. For generations and generations, this song is living through us and yet sounds new. We have added a rap part to add some colour to the song and also to add a visual break, and apart from this heavy groove and bass line, merging with a dotara riff is sounding bang on!"