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CULTURE L17 SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2011 ° WWW.LIVEMINT.COM LOUNGE A LIFE IN MUSIC G oing by the number of invitations to book launches that one receives these days, it would seem that every other Indian has taken to authoring books, publishing and launching them in style. Despite all this prolific literary activity, it does seem a pity that the stylish launches, the invitation cards, the newsletters and the publicity are largely reserved only for books written in English, and not for writing in Hindi and other Indian languages. What a pity then that some wonderful writing never gets due attention or, at best, is noticed only in some circles. Add to this the problem of sourcing and buying books in Hindi. It requires a fair amount of dedicated investigation to discover where one can buy books written in languages other than English, or even if they can be ordered online. Books on music are even more difficult to come by and perhaps that is why I missed out on acquiring a copy of Sharad Dutt’s extensively researched and brilliant biographical work on the life and music of veteran music director Anil Biswas, titled Ritu Aaye Ritu Jaaye. Fortunately for me, some well-meaning spammer forwarded an announcement about the book on email a while back and I was able to buy a copy. This is the second edition of the book, released after the demise of Biswas on 31 May 2003. Dutt, an acclaimed figure in the world of media and broadcasting, shared a close association with Biswas, whom he first met when the author joined Doordarshan and was allotted a room adjoining that of the composer. Biswas was, at the time, director of the national orchestra at Akashvani. But greatly in awe of the renowned music director, Dutt struck a rapport with Biswas only in 1976, during the making of a Doordarshan programme on singer Mukesh, who died in August 1976. Over the years the two grew close, and Dutt often urged Biswas (whose literary bent of mind manifested itself in the writing of song lyrics and poems in Bengali) to pen his autobiography. Biswas turned the tables on Dutt by declaring that if at all his life was to be documented, it was not for him to do so himself, and that he considered Dutt a suitable candidate for the job! Thus began an extended series of discussions and chat sessions where Biswas shared his memories with Dutt, who captured them on tape. The sessions resulted in approximately 60 memory-packed hours of recorded material, which provided Dutt with the ingredients that went into the making of Ritu Aaye Ritu Jaaye. What draws me to the book is that despite the author’s obvious and abundant admiration and deep respect for Biswas, he does not turn him into a mythical figure with wings, or a demi-god, as often happens in books on Indian musicians. We meet Anil Biswas, the human, albeit an extraordinary one whose enormous contribution to the world of Hindi film music commands reverence and immense admiration. An added bonus that Dutt gifts to his readers is comprehensive and easy-to-refer-to lists of his work as a music director and composer, the singers he worked with, Biswas’ Bengali adaptations of his favourite Urdu poetry from the works of Hazrat Amir Khusrau, Mir Taqi Mir and others, and even translations of articles written by Biswas originally in Bengali, on themes such as the ghazal, orchestral music and music for ballets. Thank you, Mr Dutt, for sharing with us the world of Anil Biswas. Write to Shubha at [email protected] MUSIC MATTERS SHUBHA MUDGAL MUSIC Studio effects movies. But Coke Studio@MTV chooses not to draw a line between itself and an industry often accused of crushing the life out of the independent artistes it chooses not to swallow whole. Leslie Lewis, the show’s musical director, is keenly aware of this. “When ‘Indipop’ began in the 1990s, it took seven or eight years to pick up. The Yaaron Dosti (his song, with KK, recorded for indie film Rockford) phase was one thing. Colonial Cousins (his project with Hariharan) was totally differ- ent; by this time people were say- ing they had heard music before, but never like this.” But Lewis’ success apart, that scene began to repeat some of Bol- lywood’s own mistakes—prizing saleability over talent, creating a landslide (in the closing years of the 1990s) of poor products. Bolly- wood eventually overwhelmed a fledgling recording industry of non-film music. In collaborating with the show’s other artistes, and performing himself (he and Hariharan will have a Colonial Cousins set), Lewis has lost months of sleep, but found a whole new groove. Independent music is increas- ingly popular, finding new venues and audiences in English and Hindi as well as, in a limited way, in other languages. But Coke Stu- dio@MTV may be the first product built on a scale that begins to approximate film music’s mam- moth reach. “I think this might widen MTV’s target group like nothing else has,” Swamy says. “We’re not thinking 15-25 (years) here, it’s probably 15-75.” He says the channel is “not looking at num- bers” for the show’s audience. In India, where Shafqat Amanat Ali is perhaps best known for singing film hits such as Mitwa (from 2006’s Kabhi Alv- ida Naa Kehna), the show will bring an Indian audience closer to the performer who, on Pakis- tan’s Coke Studio, reworked the enchanting Hindustani “light classical” sound of Khamaaj and Aankhon Kay Saagar, his early hits with his band Fuzon. It will lay down classic blues guitar lines behind Mahadevan and Khogen Da’s voices, and have the folksy Kher improvising as per Lewis’ jazz sensibilities. Seen one way, it could be an enormous project of reconcilia- tion—to bring the Sunidhi Chau- han fans to the Wadali brothers, and Wadali enthusiasts to Chau- han, and bring both these audi- ences to music in “Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil—a host of languages”, as Swamy says. For a generation of listeners who may not remember Mile sur mera tumhaara, MTV is looking to rec- reate the idea of an India con- nected by its music. “Everyone’s always asking, what’s new? What’s next? What else after Bollywood?” Lewis says. “So, you know, here you go. This is a great starting point for what’s next.” Coke Studio@MTV will air on MTV starting 17 June, every Friday at 7pm. For details, follow www.fb.me/cokestudioatmtv On a good note: Anil Biswas. COURTESY SAARANSH PUBLICATIONS ‘Coke Studio@MTV’ wants to recreate an India united by music, but can it boost the indepen- dent music scene? B Y S UPRIYA N AIR [email protected] ···························· W hen the heat rises across the subcontinent, a large part of its population, across borders, greets the new sea- son of Coke Studio with the rap- ture usually reserved for thunder- clouds in late summer. Since 2008, this Pakistani television show has brought together classical, folk and pop musicians to create new sounds out of Pakistan’s old and diverse traditions, and acquired a formidable army of Indian and expatriate fans around the world. Some of its extraordinary appeal could be gleaned, perhaps, in the joy with which MTV began record- ing the Indian edition of the show in April. As producers and execu- tives greeted each other, the refrain, “We did it!”, echoed around the sets. “We’ve been thinking about this for years,” says Aditya Swamy, channel head, MTV India. Months of scouting for performers across India, of a gruelling schedule of collaboration and practice, of days and nights of recording have now come together. On Coke Studio’s signature black and red set, with no interrup- tions from anchors, judges or audi- ence, Sunidhi Chauhan records with the stalwart Wadali brothers. Assamese folk superstar Khogen Da sings with Shankar Mahadevan. Classical singer Bom- bay Jayashri jams with Chinna Ponnu, perhaps best known out- side Tamil Nadu for the folk anthem Nakku Mukka. “We want the Kashmir-to-Kan- yakumari experience for listeners,” Swamy says. Pakistan’s Coke Studio rein- vented the pop-folk crossover. As teen pop icons sang the poetry of Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah, and Strings re-recorded their monster- hit Duur accompanied by the clas- sical stylings of Ustad Hussain Baksh Gullo, it seemed like a wholly new musical idiom was emerging; slick and easy on the ear, but without the limitations of a shallow remix. In a country where recorded music was failing to keep up with piracy and the concert scene increasingly threatened by secu- rity concerns, a TV show that was all music and offered, moreover, free downloads of every song and episode on the Internet, became a phenomenon. In India, the behemoth of Bol- lywood music already offers a platform, warts and all, for the crossover sound. Vocalists such as Kailash Kher and Kavita Seth, for example, are already well known for bringing their Sufi-in- spired music to the increasingly diverse soundtracks of Hindi Q&A | RAGHU DIXIT ‘I still get free auto rides’ B Y K RISH R AGHAV [email protected] ···························· O n 24 June, over 50,000 people will watch singer Raghu Dixit and his band take over the prestigious John Peel stage at the Glastonbury music festival in the UK, playing an hour-long set of Kannada and Hindi folk songs. The Bharatanatyam-trained former microbiologist’s band, the Raghu Dixit Project, has become one of Indian indie music’s biggest crossover success stories. Their self-titled 2008 debut album has topped the iTunes World Music charts twice in the last year, and they played more than 60 international shows in five countries in 2010. “Glastonbury is going to be huge. It’s going to be madness,” Dixit told Lounge over the phone from Bangalore. “It’s like a Carnatic musician performing inside the Tirupati Balaji temple. The ultimate pilgrimage.” He talks about cracking the UK market and the advantages of being a household name in Karnataka. Edited excerpts from an interview: It’s been a fantastic year for you. What made it all happen? The seed was sown quite a few years back, I think, when our first album was released and we managed to get a slot at the London Lovebox festival in 2009. We had a 2pm slot, it was raining and the only people in the audience were a woman with her two children. But we soldiered on, and halfway through the first song, a huge exodus occurred from the main stage to ours, and by the end we had close to 3,500 people cheering and dancing. Here we got lucky, and we were booked for the Womad (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festival (in the UK) a week later because another band had dropped out. We had nearly 10,000 people there and it really reaffirmed our faith in our music, and we began to feel that we could try becoming international performers. The real turning point was playing on the popular BBC music show ‘Later...with Jools Holland’ in late 2010. How did that happen? We have two managers in the UK, and the two of them came up with a full-length, three-phase tour of the UK in 2010. We played a number of events there for folks from the music industry in May and, as a result, gained a number of evangelists for the band. One of the people who came for the May showcase gigs was a producer for Later...with Jools Holland. How did the show help? We played the season finale, along with Arcade Fire and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin). It’s so hard for me to say that we played “along with” names like that. bribes at government offices because people recognize me. In 2009, I did another movie called Just Maat Maathalli. After that, I got contacted by Y-Films, part of Yash Raj Films, asking, “Would I be interested in a Bollywood film?” I said, “Of course!” The film had Ashish Patil as producer, and he used to head MTV India back in the day. I remembered us playing several free shows for MTV all those years ago, so this felt like him saying, “Here’s your payment for that!” The film is called ‘Mujhse Friendship...’? Fraaandship! With three “As”. Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge? You recorded a session for the Indian edition of Coke Studio recently. Tell us about that. It was fantastic, but we were really disappointed that we got to play only one song. We chose Hey Bhagwan. We were part of a session that included Bombay Jayashri, Ustad Rashid Khan and playback singer Richa Sharma. Sadly, and unlike the Pakistani Coke Studio, we didn’t get to collaborate with these artistes. But we’re excited, and this opens up a whole new audience for us. The songwriter on his second album and becoming a UK crossover hit Buoyant: Raghu Dixit. That show went out to millions of people. When it aired, I was sitting here in India, in the middle of the night, watching our site and Facebook page go crazy. It pushed the album to No. 1 almost overnight. No Man, the song we performed on the show, was top of the charts for that week. How will your second album differ from the first? The first album was recorded over a period of seven years, and in very piecemeal manner...you can hear many inconsistencies in the tonal quality. The second will be well-prepared, well-studied and will hopefully take the reputation of the first album to a higher level. It will also feature more languages than just the Kannada and Hindi of the first. You’re also working on the music for a Bollywood film. In 2007, I did the music for this Kannada film, Psycho, which made me a household name in Karnataka thanks to one song called Mahadeshwara. That song went to every nook and corner of the state, and to this day I get free auto rides, free lunches at restaurants and waivers from Surround sound: The Coke Studio set; and (below) Leslie Lewis, the show’s music director. JEREMY LLEWELLYN JONES
