Papon

Angarag Mahanta, better known as Papon, was born on 24th November 1975 in Guwahati district of Assam. He is deeply engaged in various forms of music in which lies his entire career and dreams. Angarag formed his own music band known as the ‘Papon and The East India Company.' It was due to the huge popularity of the band that he came to be known as Papon (which happens to be his nickname) rather than his real name. His parents were Assamese folk singers Khagen Mahenta and Archana Mahanta.

Papon was taught various forms of music at a very young age itself, because of the background in music that his parents shared. Apart from singing, Papon is an expert in playing various musical instruments such as the Guitar, Harmonium, Tabla, and Khol. Papon became a popular name in the film industry after he made a song for the Hindi movie- ‘Dum Maro Dum’. He has sung many song for movies such as ‘Lakshmi,' ‘Madras Café’etc and the most favorite song that he has made so far is ‘Kyon’ which was for the movie- ‘Barfi.'

Though his mother tongue is Assamese, Papon has sung songs in various regional languages such as Punjabi, Hindi, Mishing, Bengali, and Tamil. He has released various independent albums and songs while he was being featured on MTV in Coke Studio, a show in which he had his own episodes for three seasons.

He has sung as a playback singer in nearly forty-five films and is also the vocalist for his band ‘Papon and The East India Company’ which was formed in 2007. The music that influenced the band is primarily songs from Assamese culture and folklore and the peaceful songs made by this band receive a lot of appreciation from the fans. Papon is famous for creating a blend of traditional ghazal music and western pop in his songs.