A vibrant dance drama form of coastal Karnataka - Yakshagana

I'm ashamed to admit that though I hail from coastal Karnataka (Village - Karki, Taluk - Honnavar), I've never ever watched a live performance of a Yakshagana! This, after coming to know years back that our surname BHAGWATH is derived from our forefathers who were singers (called a Bhagwatha) in Yakshaganas! Therefore, when I came to know that Keremane Shambhu Hegdeis going to perform a Yakshagana during the "Anushruti"series of functions in Ravindra Bhavan at Bhopal on 26th March, I decided that the time has finally arrived when I MUST watch a Yakshagana. For the uninitiated, Yakshagana or the song by Yakshas, is a vibrant, vivacious dance - drama form native to coastal Karnataka. Its a centuries old style of narrating mythological stories mainly from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas etc. On this day, it was to "Duryodhana Vadha", recounting the Pandava's search for Duryodhana and his subsequent killing. The performance began with the "Ranga Pooje" or worshipping of the stage by a lady (actually a male dressed in feminine attire). But I couldn't get the point about worshipping a draped deity, as is evident in the picture below. Any answers anyone ?

Next, came the Pandavas, also draped and revealed their identity later while dancing (pic below).
Pandavas search for the elusive Duryodhana and confer amongst themselves as to his whereabouts (pic below).

Duryodhana in the meanwhile is desparate to hide himself. Sanjaya (old man), who's blessed with divine vision comes to kow of duryodhana's fate and comes to meet him in the forest (pic below). Duryodhana confides to him that he's about to hide himself in a nearby lake.
A Gowda (farmer / woodcutter) eavesdrops on them and rushes to inform the Pandavas about Duryodhana's whereabouts (pic below).
Pandavas reach the lake and try to challenge duryodhana to urge him to come out of his hiding (pic below).

Even Lord Krishna tries his hand at it (pic below), but he comes out only after hearing the challenge of his sworn enemy Bhima.

Duryodhana is given a choice to fight with any one of the Pandavas of his choice. As expected, he chooses Bhima! (pic below)

In the initial encouinter, Duryodhana seriously hurts Bhima who is now fallen down in a swoon. Pandavas are shocked and crestfallen at this turn of events (pic below)

After the divine intervention from Lord Krishna, Bhima is resurrected as it were and after a most controversial prompt from Krishna, strikes Duryodhana on his thigh (pic below)

Duryodhana bites the dust and thus Pandavas avenge themselves (Pic below).

At the end of the super performance when I went backstage to meet the performers I found that all were gathered and were praying to Lord Shiva before removing their attire. It was rather unfortunate that Keremane Shambhu Hegde himself couldn't make the trip and instaed, his son Shivram Hegde performed the lead role of Duryodhana (pic below)

Let me tell the uninformed that Keremane Shambhu Hegde is probably the greatest ever Yakshagana performer. In conclusion I must add that I'm now addicted to this uniquee dance drama form. Actually I never was much interested in ANY form of dance, born as it is I am with two left feet and have absolutely no understanding of rhythm! However, ever since I started accompanying my daughter to her Bharatnatyam classes I have begun to appreciate the dance forms. Thus I wanted to take my daughter & wife to the Yakshagana so that they could enjoy it. However, once the show began, I was rooted to the seat !

An enchanting evening of Old hindi film songs

It was probably the most enchanting and nostalgic evening that I must have spent in the last 5 - 6 years. The occassion was "Sur Singaar" an evening of a trip down the memory lane of the golden era of hindi film music viz, 1950s and 1960s. It couldn't have been better for me as some of my most favourite numbers belong to this era, the era of singers like Rafi, Kishore, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Lata , Asha and composres like S D Burman, Shanker Jaikishen, Naushad, Roshan Madan Mohan et al.

The evening began with an instrumental peice played on Hawaian guitar. The numbers were "Man re tu..... " from Chitralekha, followed by a a 3 peice duet of O P Nayyar - Zara hole hole, Balma khuli hawa mai and Deewana hua badal. Then the evening took off as it were with one hit after the other. There was one singer in particular Mr Anil Vajpayee, mechanical engineer by profession, who brought alive the memories of Rafisab. I think he just made a wrong decision to enter a tinkerer's profession ! Probab;ly he's right in his own way - he DID tinker with our souls by his flawless and excellant rendering.

What these songs reiterated was that there's just no comparison with the past masters. Where can you bring the magic of Mere mehboob tujhe meri..., Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi woh barsaat...., Tumne mujhe dekha ho kar meherbaan, Parde main rehane do etc? I think the credit must go to the composers who fused folk melodies, Indian classical and western music harmoniously to leave an indelible mark on history. Also the singers were thoroughly trained in clasical music (except the maverick genius - Kishore!), who could understand the mood of the scene and sing accroding to the actor / actress. Thus you have Rafi bringing out different quality of voice for Shammi, Shashi, Dileep kumar, Rajendr kumar, or a KK for Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev kumar or Amitabh! Now we have the same Reshammiya for himself or everyone else, or Kumar Sanu, Babul supriyo, Sonu Nigam for everyone ! No difference at all sir !Even Rehman's orchestration appears same now days. These days you can spot any composer by listening once to his orchestration. All Himesh songs sound same, all Rehman songs the same. Where's the variety? Gone with the past masters I will say !!!

Kishoritai Amonkar - A larger than life ego

The signs were unmistabale as we approached the gates of Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal. The security cordon was befitting a VVIP or a bollywood star rather than a classical musician. As I presented my invitation card to the volunteers with my daughter in tow, I was issued a warning that children may not be allowed inside the hall. Finally, at the entrance door of the concert hall, security persons almost seized my cellphone as I was slow in switching it off! All this was now adding up to whatever I had heard about the reclusive Diva - Kishori Amonkar. She's the highest paid classical musician in India and is reported to have stopped her recital midway after she spotted a certain Farooq Abdullah chatting in the front row.

Before the start of performance, there were innumerable instructions regarding cell phone, photography, videography etc. The seating arrangement was of the "Baithak" type in Indian fashion. At last the Diva arrived and after sundry intro's the performance began. She commenced with a Vilambit Khayal in Raag Bhoopali and culimnated it with a taraana in drut teental. She then continued with a "Sahela" in the same Raag. Now I must admit to my ignorance about Sahela. I have heard Thumris, Daadras, Chaitis, Kajris and Tappas, but never Sahela. Neverthless it was enchantable. After taking a break of 15 minutes, the Diva then sang a Khayal in Raag Kedaar and ended the evening (nay night !) with a bhajan.

As far as the performance was concerned, let me confess that I am not too fond of the Jaipur - Atrauli Gharaana "Shaili". Niether was I too fond of Pt Mallikarjun Mansoor, nor am I much appreciative of this lady. Since I'm not trained in Classical music, I may not be able to express my point eloquently. I feel that its precisely for this reason that Jaipur-Atrauli gharaana doesn't appeal to people like us. I feel there's too much of "Vyakarana" or grammar and too little of "Shringaar" or adornings, which makes a recital technically flawless, but less beautiful. Its somewhat like the difference between the batting of Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishvanath !

But that's not he point. What I am about to write is about the massive ego of a person. I sincerely feel that that a "Kalakaar" must be humble above all. Just last month I had attended the concert of Parveen Sultana. What a difference between the attitudes of both exalted personages ! I had blogged about her performance and narrated her humility. Sadly tht's lacking totally in this Diva. At the outset itself she'd said that "Mere paas sirf shaastreeya sangeet ke sur hain, aur aakhir main academic minded persons ke liye bhajan shayad gaoon." To me it means that only her music is music, rest all is hogwash ! I'm sorry madame, I don't agree with you at all. While I too do not consider today's film music as something to cherish, but I dont find anything degrading in Thumris, tappas or Bhajans. Anyways its a democratic country and she'sentitled to her views as I am to mine ! In total contrast, in Parveen Sultana's concert none of such "Nautanki" was evident anywhere. No one was forced to switch off their mobiles. yet, the moment recital commenced, there was pin drop silence. To summarize in th end, I found the atmosphere too "Natkiya" and artificial. I did enjoy the concert despite my misgivings about the gharana, but I came away a disenchanted soul !

Jaaeye aap kahaan jaaenge Nayyarsaab

Hindi film industry lost one of its most charismatic and enigmatic composers when Shri O P Nayyar breathed his last on the night intervening between January 27th and 28th. If Asha Bhosale could come out of the shadows of her elder sibling, the credit entirely should go to Nayyarsaab. It was he alone who detected the sensuous quality in Asha's voice and the rest as they say, is history. Nayyarsaab's music had the earthly quality of the soil of Punjab, yet at the same time he could infuse a soft romantic quality to his music too. He could compose heavy tragic music also, as is evidenced by "Chain se humko kabhi...." or "Chal akela, chal akela.....".

My personal favourites include:-

1. Udein jab jab zulfein teri- Nya Daur (1957)

2. Mera naam chin chin chu -Howrah bridge (1958)

3. Jaaeye aap kahaan jaaenge- Mere sanam (1965)

4. Pukarta chalaa hoon main - Mere sanam

5.Chal akela - Sambandh(1974)

6. Chain se humko kabhi aapne - Praan jaye par vachan na jaaye (1974)

7. Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra - Kashmir ki kali (1964)

8. Kajra mohabbatwala - Kismet (1968)

9.Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahaan - Mr & Mrs 55 (1959)

10. Laakhon hain nigaah main - Phir wohi dil laaya hoon (1967)

It was rather shocking to learn that in the twilight of his life he had to be cared for by a poor family in Thane, Maharashtra. It is understood that his wife and son had filed a suit against him. We all stand humbled before the genius of Nayyarsaab and pray to the Almighty that his oul may rest in peace. Adieu Nayyarsaab!

Everlasting classical old songs

Why the old songs/compositions are everlasting, I realized when my 7 year old daughter took a fancy to the song "Laaga chunari main daag", sung by Mana Dey from the film - Dil hi to hai. It so happened that I selected this particular song for singing in our annual college gathering. When I first switched on the CD player and the opening bars were played, my daughter wrinkled her nose in disgust at my selection. She probably expected me to sing some of those God awful "Reshammiyasque" songs. However, my daughter is a keen listener and was playing nearby in the adjacent room, when the famous Taraana at the end began. Now my daughter is undergoing training for Bharatnatyam dance and therefore just could'nt resist the furious Teen taal and came into the room and started dancing wildly to the rhythm. As soon as the song ended, she then immediately went away and I too did not reflect too much over the incident.

Next day when I started to practice the song along with the CD track, she was present in the room with me and somehow sat through the entire song. Thus ended the 2nd day. Now on the 3rd day, my daughter paid more attention and began to sing snatches of the song along with me. This forced me to pay more attention to the entire scenario as 7 year old kids showing undue attention to a 50 year old song is quite unusul to me at least! After that day, there was no stopping her and she used to pester me to practice the song every day, and was the one, most wildly cheering me during the entire performance on the college day. Things have come to such a pass now, that she has forced me to download the entire song into my Cell's mp3 player and she's listening to it whenever we go out on a drive (I don't have a cassette/CD deck in my car).

There's more to come ! After having once "tasted" this song, my daughter's now turned her attention to Manna Dey's another classic(al) "Jhanak jhanak tori baaje paayaliya", from the film - Mere huzoor!!! This song too has been downloaded into my cell's mp3 player and I'm being forced to listen to the song as well as her vocal exertions along with it. Not that I am complaining !!!

Lata Mangeshkar v/s Asha Bhosale - is it fair to compare ?

At last I have mustered enough courage to post a topic close to my nheart albiet controversial. The topic is - Amongst the mangeshkar siblings, who's better, Lata Mangeshkar or Asha Bhosale ? I am more in favour of Asha Bhosale, although I will say that it is unfair to compare them thus. My twin criteria for arriving at the strange conclusion is VERSATILITY & RANGE OF VOICE. While Lata has a rather high pitched voice, very sweet and most difficult to attain of course, yet Asha scores over her elder sister because of her range and versatility. Asha has sung songs effortlessly in all the octaves, while Lata has restricted herself to the medium and high octaves. Can you imagine Lata singing "Dum maaro dum" or "Dil cheez kya hai" ? Same cannot be said about Asha. She has sung fair number of songs in the highest octave. Sample her "Yeh kya jagah hai doston", and "Sun le pukaar, aaee aansuon ki dhaar leke, aaj tere dwaar" just to name a few. I use the same criteria to rate Begum Parveen Sulatana much above Vidushi Kishori Amonkar. Coming to the topic, Asha has sung a greater varieties of songs including devotional, Ghazals, light classicals, Pop etc. Readers are invited to comment upon the topic ! The field is open to all. Any error of omission frommy side is regretted.

A tribut to Mohammed Rafi on his 82nd birthday

Yesterday 24th December was the legendary singer Md.Rafi's 82nd birthday. What else can I add more about this all time great singer than what has already been penned about him? To me he was THE most versatile singer of all times having sung in all the genres, be it Classical, Devotional, Light romantic, Soulful, Sad, chirpy yuppee, you name it he had it ! Only Kishore kumar to some extent came a distant second in versatility.

Rafisaab was the most humble and down to earth human being one could imagine in the otherwise big, bad world of Bollywood. He was such a simpleton that he NEVER took any royalty of any of his recorded songs. He only took an upfront payment and that was it ! Due to this, he had a tiff with Lata Mangeshkar and they did not sing together for a couple of years in the 1960's. Compare this with today's upstarts like Himesh Reshammiyas who claim that they are "Blessed" by Goddess Saraswathi and claim to "compose" in all genres !

Anyway, this post's about Rafisaab and his genius. He started his career with Shyam Sunder in the early 1940's and went on to sing under every leading Music Director like Ghulam Mohammed, Naushaad, Anil Biswas, Husnlal -Bhagatram, S-J, SD, Roshan, Madan Mohan, Chitragupta,C.Ramchandra, K-A, RD , L-P et al.

There's a marvellous post by Dr Narasinha Kamath posted in http://dr-narasinha-kamath.sulekha.com. All those interested in discussing about Old Film songs can visit his blog. He's also posted interesting tit bits about Rafisaab in http://dr-narasinha-kamath.sulekha.com/blog/post/2006/12/immortal-mohd-rafi.htm .

My personal Rafi Favourites include -
1. Koi saagr dil ko behlaata naheen - Dil diya dard liya.
2. Madhuban main raadhika - Kohenoor.
3. Naachey man mora - Meri saoorat teri aankhen.
4. Raadhike toone bansuri churaaee - Badi behen.
5. Nazar na lag jaaye - Night in london.
6. Na jaa kaheen ab na jaa -Mere humdum mere dost.
7. Teri aankhon ke siva - Chiraag.
8. Yeh chand sa roshan chehra - Kashmir ki kali.
9. Chahe koi mujhe jungalee kahe - Junglee.
10. Hum bekhudi main tumko pukaare - Hum Dono.
11. Pukaarta chalaa hoon main - Mere sanam.
12. Kar chale hum fida jaano tan saathiyon - Haqeeqat.
13. Man tarapat hari darasan ko aaj - Baiju baawra.
14. Maniey poochhaa chaand se ki dekha hai kaheen - Abdullah
15. Dard e dil - Karz.
The list is endless and I can fill pages but I got to stop here. In the end, Rafisaab was the last of the Moghuls who ruled the world of playback singing. After him we got to hear only clones !