He inherited the singing tradition from his great grandfather Bhate Buva, who was a well known vocalist for Thumri and Natya Sangeet in the 19th century.
His repertoire ranged from the pure classical, Dhrupad to Vachanas, Natyageet, Thumri, and Ghazal (different styles of Indian music) spanning eight languages.
He is an accomplished singer, famous for his distinctive style of Ghazals, Thumris and Khayals.
A distinguished vocalist of the Kirana Gharana Style, he has developed his own style in Khyal and Thumri, and given several vocal concerts of Hindustani Classical Music in music circles, music conferences and over All India Radio.
Souman's mother Shyama Mehrothra Bose, is an Indian classical singer and former disciple of the Indian Thumri queen, Girija Devi.
Thumri |
This is the only Gharana that has still continued to sing Dhrupad-Dhamar along with Nom-Tom Alap, Khayal, Thumri, Tappa, Tarana, Hori, Dadra, Ghazal, Kaul, Rasiya etc.
He learned various forms of classical singing like Dhrupad, Khyal, Thumri, Bhajan, Dadra, Tarana, and so on from his father Iqbal Hussain Khan Bandanawazi.
Though trained also in the mediaeval Dhrupad genre, the uncle-nephew duo restricts its repertoire to the modern mainstream genre, Khayal, and the romanticist genres, Thumris, Dadra, and Ghazal.
Her sophomore music album 'Monologues', released in January 2013 is a collection of contemporary Ghazals, Nazms and light Thumris.