Amitabh praised for his rendition of Ekla Chalo Re in Kahaani

Actor Amitabh Bachchan, who is known for his trademark baritone, has been applauded by several Tagore exponents for his rendition of Rabindra Sangeet 'Ekla Chalo Re' in the film Kahaani. They say that he has a few minor glitches of pronunciation, but what they like is his honest effort.

Talking to PTI, veteran Rabindra Sangeet singer Pramita Mallick, who also recorded the same song for an album earlier, said, "He is not a Bengali and so his pronunciation will be different. But he has made an honest effort and given full respect to the song."

Big B has sung 'Ekla Chalo Re' in both Bengali and Hindi, which has been composed by Vishal Shekhar. Talking about it, classical vocalist Indrani Sen says that she has always loved the baritone of the megastar. "If you talk about pronunciation then even Asha Bhonsle has sung a number of Tagore songs where her accent wasn't perfect. But they were all hits and so is this song," PTI quotes Sen as saying.

Singer-director Debashish Raychaudhuri said, "If you ask me for a critical appraisal then I will say that he could have worked on the pronunciation. But even then his voice has touched my heart."

Young vocalist Manoj Murali Nair dubbed the 69-year-old actor's rendition as 'experimental'. "The song is experimental and can't be seen as a proper Tagore song. The song has come out well and in a very trendy way which will help the genre to find new listeners," he said.

Describing the song as "truly awesome and worthy of all awards, Bachchan had said, "May I just say that singing Rabindrasangeet for the first time was the greatest revelation. The beauty of the language, the lyricism of the tune and its 'dhun' (music) are outstanding." The song, one of Mahatma Gandhi's favorites, was penned in 1905 by Tagore.