Gopal and Madhusudan better known as the Barman Brothers, took their baby steps into the world of music almost at a toddler stage with the help and inspiration from their father Late Barendra Mohan Barman. Right from their childhood, the brothers showed tremendous knack for the two classical rhythm instruments, Tabla and Shree Khol. Later on, the younger one Gopal would go on taking special Shree Khol lessons from Prof. Sanatan Saha of Rabindra Bharati University, followed by tutelage from legendary Pandit Shankar Ghosh.
The brothers share their discontent at the typical practice of treating accompanying musicians such as Tabla player, etc. like a second-class citizen in a community or even worse! It’s an insolent practice, as it doesn’t respect the years of sincere hard work put by a musician. Their decision to perform a duet of Tabla and Shree Khol was largely as a result of this. In the course of their musical career of playing together they have also picked up various technical elements from each other’s discipline and thus enhancing their performance.
Recalling their moment of big break and their foray into film music composition, they talk about their appearance at a cultural event held at Netaji Indoor Stadium, which resulted in their acquaintance with film star Mithun Chakraborty. This led to their first work as music directors in films, both in Kolkata as well as in Mumbai.
Even now the brothers are ready eager and willing to take up any challenge on the musical frontier.
They also share the idea of a tukra in a contemporary context which are like little musical skits comprising of rhythm chants which they demonstrate both verbally as well as on instruments.
