From being a popular singer to an accomplished composer, from pop to classical, it is hard to put Shankar Mahadevan in a bracket. To his decorated cap, Shankar recently added one more feather when he decided to act in a Marathi musical.
In the Capital with his partners Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendosa to launch India’s first airport radio Mirchi T3, which the trio has curated, Shankar takes some straight questions.
Your fans are eager to watch you act in your upcoming filmKatyaar Kaaljaat Ghusli. Tell us how did it happen?
I was actually composing the score for the film but the filmmaker insisted that I should act in the film as it is a musical in Marathi. The film is about the tussle between two classical gharanas of music. Based on a popular musical drama, the people have lived with this tale for decades in Maharashtra, and now it is coming in the form of a film.
Tell us about the contours of the role.
I am playing Pandit Bhanu Shankar Shastri, who leads one gharana of classical music in the film. I agreed to act only after realising that it’s about a musician who has lived his life for the sake of pure music. Nothing else mattered to him and that is how I connected with his attributes.
Your take on the current scenario of music where music is losing its aesthetic value.
Mediocrity in today’s music is like a wave which will come and go but there is good music which we are producing and that will remain for a long time. Musicians should understand that it is not just about creating one hit but to sustain it at the top. There are two kinds of music, good music and bad music. Both are and will continue to co-exist. What we are experiencing is an overdose of information as we are flooded with so much of music from various sources like television, radio, the Internet and many more. The music of the golden period is considered to be aesthetic but in that time too there was music which didn’t have that ring to it. Today, we are unable to figure out good music as we are flooded with an overdose of information.
You have learnt music from the legends. Do you think that there is a lack of understanding of classical music among youngsters?
It is not true that the youngster today don’t listen to classical music or they don’t understand it but, yes, youngsters only take to that kind of melody which is rich in music, whether it is a classic or a rock composition. A recent example is when we released a song for our upcoming film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali , there were five lakh hits which we later figured out later came mainly from youngsters.
Is this the reason behind setting up the Shankar Mahadevan Music Academy?
I always believe that you have to give back what you have learnt. By using an online platform, my aim is to reach maximum students as a building would have restricted that in few hundreds while we are operating in around 47 countries with more than 80 teachers teaching music.
Have avenues like ‘Coke Studio’ and ‘Unplugged’ created an alternative for music lovers who want to explore music beyond Bollywood?
Our rich musical heritage ranges from classical to folk to popular film numbers. It needs alternative platforms to reach to its audience in different forms. The need is to respect our own music like the Europeans revere the Western Classical music and the Arabs value their music. We have to promote non-film songs with the same zeal as we do the Bollywood songs.
Be itDil Dhadakne Do,Zindagi Na Milegi DobaraorDil Chahta Hai, your music always takes travellers to a different destination. Now you have curated a radio station for travellers, tell us how much travel is connected with music?
When we enter any railway station or airport we are welcomed with announcements which are so dull that it spoils our mood. So we three decided to curate some songs for those who are travelling so that we can help them hold on to their mood and make them feel refreshed.
Travel is always connected to music as with travel we explore the world and by listening music we explore ourselves.
