Kalpana embroiled in PROBLEM for MAA-E-RI

     Bhojpuri singer Kalpana is embroiled in a brand new PROBLEM. The video of her latest upcoming Hindi music album Maa-e-Ri - a lyrical conversation with Mother Nature, about to be released this October 27^th 2011 have encountered both animal rights and censor issues in Mumbai, because of the presence of “Peacock” the national bird of India. The censor board and the animal rights board has objected to the use of the national bird in the video. The singer has been ordered to remove the footages.Being the producer of the music video, Kalpana, said, “Yes, they have asked to remove it. The shoot of the video is already complete and we have no option but seek fresh permission to use some other bird for the video which involves a huge cost.” Peacock agar hamari rashtria pakshi hai, why can’t we proudly show it to the world. Censor board ko mai respect karti hu. Welog aisa team rakkhe jaha animals per shooting ke dauraan atyachar nahi ho raha - iska khayal rakkha jay. Why can’t I shoot with my national bird being an Indian, when the theme of my songs is HARMONY WITH NATURE? Censor board, animal rights aur is album ki intention ek hi hai…….jantuwoko bhi pyar kia jay (to love animals). Love is the birth right of every living beings. Sirf pictorial view ke liye mor ko mai use nahi karna chahti thi…Is project me kalpana agar human race ko represent kar rahi hain, to mor(Peacock)pakshiyo ki representative hai – ye soch tha.Lekin aaj hamari soch itna zyada nakaratmak ho gaya hai ki positive abnormal lagta hai aur negative normal. When asked about the extra expenditure due to this last-minute change, she shrugged, “That's not important at all. The censor has raised something and there is an issue. I have no other choice other than to remove it.”Maa-e-ri is all about celebrating the beauty of Mother Nature shot in the North-Eastern region, yet an unexplored area of India, exotic and richly diverse. Dawki is an oft visited place in Meghalaya, more so for tourists who regale at the sight of the plains of Bangladesh as they stand at a vantage point amongst the green rolling hills at the Indo-Bangladesh border. Another exotic retreat point where the videos have been shot is Mawlynong, which BBC has flashed in its chronicles as the Cleanest Village in Asia. The Living Root Bridge, a phenomenon to be seen to be believed has been rightly brought up to world’s notice through this audio-visual. This video has brought up some of the hidden treasures of the North East India in particular.  A part of the video has also been shot in Cherrapunjee, once the wettest place on earth. 

       Mae-e-Ri, apart from portraying the rich tapestry of some of the places of the Northeast India has also laid ample emphasis on the attires, which is an array of attractive colors from the looms of the place. The first attire is an ensemble inspired from one of the tribes of Nagaland, a state known for its mesmerizing topography, its unique ethnic culture, language, food and of course its courteous and humble people. The video also captures traditionally garbed Naga tribesmen performing to the beat of Kalpana’s song. Second attire is unique to the Darrang district of Assam. This is mostly worn by the women during the performance of the Deodhani Nritya on the auspicious day of Maa Manasha Puja. The motifs woven into this attire are usually inspired by objects from nature, like birds, flowers, trees, etc.

        Kalpana has already sung in around more than 6000 songs for 22 languages. She had many opportunities to sing for Hindi films also. A  few  of  them  are  Anil  Kapoor’s -  NO  PROBLEM,  Ajay Devgan’s - AAKROSH, Akshay Kumar’s - KHATTA MEETHA, WELCOME, DE DANA DAN, Shah Rukh Khan’s - BILLU BARBER, ANTARDWAND &  Monty Sharma’s - CHAMKU &  MIRCHH. Her  passion for traditional music, the burning sense of rhythm and grooves made her work in an album together with world class India’s virtuoso percussionist and bandleader Trilok Gurtu, one of the most dynamic and prolific musicians on a new project MASSICAL released from BIRD JAM label Germany. At present she is busy with her world music project THE LEGACY OF BHIKHARI THAKUR to be released from Times Music, trying to relive the country’s long-forgotten treasure of Bhojpuri folk music.