On a brightly lit stage at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in King Koti, a group of accompanists rehearse as singer-couple Roop Kumar Rathod and Sunali Rathod walk in. Dressed in a pista green kurta and a scarf wrapped around his neck, Roop Kumar stands guard like a hawk watching Sunali sing Beet jaat barkha ritu sajan heri … A few modifications later, Roop Kumar is at the helm singing romantically Koi baat aaj zaroor hai, yeh hawa mein jo suroor hai …The tone changes as he sings a few lines of Mirza Ghalib’s poetry Dil-e-nadan tujhe hua kya hai, aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai … As his rich voice hits the right notes, it is hard to believe this is the same singer who sang Sandese aate hain mujhe tadpaate hain in Border or the hit number Maula mere Maula from Anwar .
Soon after they are back in the green room before their ‘Jhankaar 2014’ concert begins, Roop Kumar insists a live performance still makes him nervous. “I experience butterflies in my stomach,” he laughs. “The first 10 minutes are crucial when the audience is waiting to hear the singer’s voice. The singer should work his magic in such a way that every individual in the audience feels he/she is singing just for him. That’s the beauty of a live performance which connects the singer and audience in a melodious way,” he says. Roop Kumar is a stickler for perfection. Sunali talks about how her husband is particular about ‘sur’ and follows a systematic approach. “He is a very strict guru and is not convinced till one gets all the notes right. Even with our daughter Reewa, he is strict. Most of the times, our sessions end up in a fight,” she says with a smile. From devotional and sufi to Bollywood and ghazal, Roop Kumar’s multi-genre singing has been one of the high points of his career.
Hailing from an illustrious musical lineage, his father Pandit Chaturbhuj Rathod was a Dhrupad exponent and a composer while his brothers, composer Shravan Rathod (of Nadeem-Shravan fame) and singer Vinod Kumar Rathod carved a niche of their own. Now, daughter Reewa is following father’s footsteps. “She has a panache for different genres. If you hear her sing western classical music and Carnatic music, you can’t make out that the singer is same,” says the proud mother. Sunali takes care of her food and dietary patterns while a doting father takes care of her professional decisions. And one of them is saying no to reality shows!
Explaining his decision, he says, “Reality shows give overnight stardom to youngsters. Abhi ke youngsters mein talent bahut hai par reality shows puts them on top easily. We see the new season of Indian Idol on TV, but what about the youngsters who won earlier seasons? They are struggling now. In a reality show, the focus is more on grooming. Young boys and girls look fashionable, wear designer clothes and dance on the stage. What about music?” he asks with a stern voice.
He is also annoyed with the Hindi pronunciation. “Once someone wrote ‘mooh’ instead of ‘moh’ and the line went More piya mooh se changing its whole meaning. It pains me when I hear ‘ghazal’ being pronounced as ‘gajal’. Even in Hindi film award functions, actors take pride in talking in English. We should treasure our languages. Sanskrit is dead. Hindi and Urdu are on the way out,” he rues.
As hot curry puffs arrive, the mood lightens and Sunali jokes about Roop Kumar’s fascination for photography. “He takes terrible photographs,” she says as Roop breaks into laughter. “When we go on holidays, he asks me to pose and takes hours till he clicks the perfect frame.”
Before concluding, the couple speak passionately about Hyderabad, the city which bound them in love. “I have been coming to Hyderabad since the ‘80s. We would organise many mehfils here,” he says reciting a sher, “Phoolon se hai badan unke, kaante hai zubaan mein, sheeshe ke hai darwaaze, pathar ke makaanon mein .”
Among different marriage proposals one hearsor sees, the proposal by Roop Kumar tops the cheesy list. “During a roller coaster ride here in Hyderabad, Sunali got scared. I held her hand and assured her ‘I am there for you.’ She said, ‘You will not be there for long.” I said, “I am forever’ and have not left the hand since then,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.
