Have you ever encountered an ecstatic sound—one that feels unfamiliar yet deeply rooted? Renowned folk and playback singer Kalpana Patowary, known for her multilingual vocal practice, is set to present a never-heard-before live experience titled ‘Folk Ecstasy’.Folk is rarely experienced as a continuous, immersive sound. With Folk Ecstasy, Kalpana Patowary introduces a new live format for Indian folk traditions.

“Folk Ecstasy comes from the moment when folk music stops behaving solely like heritage and starts behaving like my truth. I named it for the emotional peak I experience while singing these songs live. This concept was born from years of field listening, stage work, and lived contact with communities where music is not performance but survival,” explains Kalpana Patowary.

Folk Ecstasy will be presented for the first time in Mumbai on 24 January 2026 at NMACC before travelling to other cities in India such as Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chandigarh. The work is a concept-led, ninety-minute live performance that treats Indian folk traditions as living sonic archives.

When asked what audiences can expect from this format, Kalpana shares, “Expect immersion. Expect languages you do not speak, but emotions you recognize. Expect raw voice, controlled arrangements. This concert asks the audience to slow down and stay present.” Patowary curates and leads the work. Her method places Indian folk forms in direct conversation with contemporary jazz structures, preserving source integrity while reshaping form for present audiences. The set runs for ninety minutes and functions as a single, deliberate narrative.
“Folk Ecstasy is not merely a fusion set. It is a content-based, carefully structured 90-minute arc where ethnic folk songs from different regions of India speak about their identity through contemporary rhythm and harmony,” says Kalpana Patowary.

The sound archive includes tribal songs and folklore celebrating women from Assam, Bhojpuri women’s traditions such as work songs, ritual songs, and narrative forms shaped by migration and labour. Performances span seven Indian dialects, without translation dilution. Traditional vocal methods are paired with live contemporary instrumentation. The performance records lineage.

“These are songs carried through memory, not notation,” says Kalpana Patowary.
The work pays tribute to Bhupen Hazarika, a carrier of Assamese cultural memory, and honours Bhikhari Thakur, a foundational architect of Bhojpuri performance ethics.

Patowary foregrounds rural narratives, ritual practice, and collective memory. Extended vocal range and complex rhythmic cycles support archival accuracy, while live instrumentation sustains immediacy and transmission. Folk Ecstasy positions folk as a living record. It retains historical and social specificity while speaking in a present sonic language.

“In today’s cultural space, Folk Ecstasy places folk music at the forefront. Not as background culture. It stands as a contemporary artistic language capable of complexity, scale, and global dialogue,” signs off Kalpana Patowary.

Apart from folk music, Kalpana Patowary has also lent her voice to several popular Bollywood songs, including “Gandi Baat” from R… Rajkumar (starring Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha), “Ore Kaharo” from Begum Jaan (starring Vidya Balan), “Ek Uncha Lamba Kad” from Welcome (starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif), and “Aila Re Aila” from Khatta Meetha (starring Akshay Kumar).

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Lopamudra Das
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