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ख़रीद फ़रोख़्त का ज़माना है, यारों और इस दौर में सब कुछ बिकाऊ है । बस ख़रीदने वाला एक अच्छा सा ग्राहक चाहिये । ज़रा से हाथ-पाँव मारो, एक दो इश्तिहार छपवा दो बड़े से किसी अख़बार में – बस, ग्राहक अपने आप खिंचा चला आयेगा । और जब सब कुछ बिकाऊ है ही, तो संगीत भी क्यों न बिके और ख़रीदा जाये ? ये अलग बात है कि इस नये दौर में संगीत का हाट-बाजार पहले लग जाता है, ग्राहकों को आकर्षित करने के लिये इश्तिहार छप जाते हैं, बेचने वाले और ख़रीदने वाले अलग अलग अन्दाज़ में अपने बेचने खरीदने के सिलसिले का गुणगान करने लगते हैं । मौन रहता है तो बस बेचारा कलाकार जिसके बनाये या रिकार्ड किये गये संगीत की बोली जल्द ही लगने वाली है । ये अन्याय नहीं तो और क्या है?

दुख तो इस बात का है कि अब कला के अनैतिक ख़रीद फ़रोख़्त में शामिल होने वालों में एक ऐसा नाम पिछले कुछ दिनों में सामने आया है, जिसे अब तक कलाकारों ने अपना मित्र, अपना हितैषी समझा था । जी हाँ, मुम्बई स्थित एन. सी. पी. ए. अर्थात नेशनल सेंटर फ़ार परफ़ार्मिंग आर्टस् ने अपने संग्रहालय का खजाना बेचने की दृष्टि से बोली लगाने के लिये ग्राहक जुटाने का कार्य जोर शोर से आरम्भ कर दिया है । Read the rest of this entry »

Ask a Hindustani classical musician what he or she will perform at a concert and most likely, you’ll get a lot of humming and hawing or a non-commital dekhenge, kyaa mood bantaa hai…. or something equally ambivalent. Which is what leads me to wonder how and what is leading classical musicians featured in the Live Preview section of Time Out Mumbai to disclose, possibly weeks in advance, what exactly they will render in a forthcoming concert. At times, the column mentions that the featured artiste is “likely to present” ragas such as this, that and the other. But most vocalists seem to have no problems mentioning names of ragas they are likely to present or have already decided to present. And so I am led to wonder whether we are witnessing a new trend in which performers are actually planning what to sing in advance? Read the rest of this entry »

I meant to write about something else this fortnight but then you see, I got all busy and worked up trying to figure out these new immigration laws that us Indian, but non-Maharashtrian, musicians have to deal with sooner or later. I mean, now that the new immigration department of Mumbai has told even the legendary Amitabh Bachchan that he isn’t welcome in Mumbai any longer, I guess we lesser mortals had better pack up and leave for places with friendlier climes, or we had better go stand in long queues and apply for Maharashtrian visas. Read the rest of this entry »

I dubbed a film song composed by Adnan Sami some months ago, and heard in the passing that it was for a Vikram Bhatt film called “1920″. I presumed then that I was asked to dub possibly because I had started sounding like I was from the 1920s! But then a few days ago, people started asking me about the song I had sung for Rakhi Sawant! I must confess that I had no idea the song would be turned into an item number featuring Bomb Sawant. Its ironical that I should find the following post on a blog called Life is Funny Baby! Read the rest of this entry »

Please be warned that the contents of this column may prove to be distasteful for persons with strong olfactory responses and delicate constitutions. Any offence or distress caused is totally unintentional because my purpose in writing this piece is solely to draw attention to at least one of the many challenges faced by exponents of Indian performing arts. Believe me, I have for long resisted the desire to share this complaint with readers but my recent experience at a concert in the art and music loving city of Kolkata now leaves me with no option but to go public. Read the rest of this entry »

You’ll never ever realize the advantages of living close to a temple if you haven’t had first-hand experience. For years, I have lived (between commuting from city to city for concerts) in a small flat close to the Jhandewalan temple in Paharganj, New Delhi. For years, therefore, I have been one of the favoured few to get the first whiff of all the latest mata ki bhainten or musical gifts to the mother/goddess. The traffic roundabout nearby is always cluttered with garish hoardings announcing forthcoming vishaal jagarans or great night-long musical extravaganzas during which devotees offer 21st century-style prayers to their beloved sheraa-wali mata (or the lion/tiger-riding Mother), complete with song, dance and entertainment.

I call them 21st century-style prayers because with each successive year, the jagaran (originally meant to be a night where devotees gathered to stay awake and chant the name of the goddess in song, prayer and thanksgiving) is fast turning into an event, often even a mega-event, with celebrity guests including politicians, criminals-turned-politicians, television and film stars and the like being brought in to attract larger crowds and bigger sponsors.

This Navaratri, the show got bigger and better than ever before. From one of the many stalls filled with all manner of religious/devotional merchandise that line the streets outside the temple, I made one of my prized Navaratri purchases-a brand new VCD titled Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Maiyaa Tu Aaja. Read the rest of this entry »

We are in the midst of celebrating 60 years of independent India and since we always celebrate with fanfare, there have been the usual concerts, aka Azadi Express, with a turbaned actor-cum-truant-MP Govinda doing his characteristic dance moves, TV clips on almost every channel with a stylized version of the tricolour tacked on to one or the other part of the screen and, of course, cross-border debates and discussions leading nowhere, or more often than not ending in the perhaps-never-to-be-resolved issue of Kashmir. But there have been few, if any, discussions on colonial hangovers that we haven’t been able to rid ourselves of. Read the rest of this entry »

Published earlier in my fortnightly column for Mint.

Jahaji Music