For this generation, K.L. Saigal’s ‘Diya Jalao’ composed by Khemchandra Prakash in raga Deepak for Tansen(1943) might be just a meme, but it speaks of a time when film music had many elements of dhrupad.
The news of Chaitanya Tamhane’s Marathi film, The Disciple, being selected for the Venice International Film Festival and Anand Tiwari’s Bandish Bandits dropping on an OTT platform have brought classical music back into popular culture. Both film and serial deal with how to preserve a tradition that demands time and unwavering devotion, in a fast-moving world fuelled by instant gratification.
Screenwriters often use classical music and its proponents as a symbol of an old world that is stuck in vilambit alaap. Does it represent that disciplinarian father who won’t allow his daughter to fall in love with his student, as in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Mohabbatein? Or is it the personification of Malhar who makes Aditi break her marital resolve in Astitva?
Or is there more to it, as seen in the Tamil classic Thillana Mohanambal or Mahesh Dattani’s Morning Raga, where the life of Carnatic musicians became metaphors for the rigid orthodoxy they have to give up to embrace new beginnings.
Raj Kapoor and K. Vishwanath used classical and folk music to express the mysticism of Indian beauty which is more than skin deep. That Satyam Shivam Sundram is remembered more for its skin show than its music is an irony.
The common perception is that classical music won’t fit into contemporary stories. In Chori Chori (1956), Nargis played a wealthy fashionable girl, but dressed in a chic gown she could lip-sync to ‘Rasik Balma’. Can we process such a situation today?
Then there is the timeless quandary: Does every emotion need to be felt before it is expressed? Right from BaijuBawra to Rockstar and Bandish Bandits , this aspect has been explored in Indian cinema with varied success.
In Baiju Bawra , the tale of rivalry between an unknown singer and Mian Tansen, Guru Haridas tells Baiju that practice alone will not suffice, he will have to go through heartbreak to become a true musician. This was almost copied in Rockstar . But in Bandish Bandits , when the disciple and grandson, untouched by romance, doesn’t get a thumri right, Pt. Radhey Mohan Rathod tells him that by that measure then, he has to kill somebody to get hold of the raudra rasa. It is another matter that the serial descends to the same froth that it questions.
Playing a classical musician is not easy, as one saw when even a perfectionist like Naseeruddin Shah fumbled as Pt. Rathod. Perhaps his image as Mirza Ghalib in Gulzar’s popular series or as ghazal singer Gulfam Hasan in Sarfarosh was too strong to dissolve.
A still from "Baiju Bawra"
Bharat Bhushan, who featured in many musicals including Baiju Bawra , Basant Bahar, Sangeet Samrat Tansen, and Sohrab Modi’s Mirza Ghalib, was often saved by Naushad Ali’s compositions as his was too genial a face to reflect all the rasas a classical stalwart could express.
Somayajulu in the classic Telugu film "Sankarabharanam".
For that you have to watch J.V. Somayajulu perform in K. Viswanath’s Sankarabharnam . Girish Karnad was suitably realistic in its Hindi remake Sur Sangam . The way he made ‘Sur Ke Panchhi Aye’, rendered by Pt Rajan Sajan Mishra, his own, is still remembered by connoisseurs who grew up watching Ashok Kumar performing to Rafi’s ‘Nache Man Mora’ in Meri Surat Teri Aankhen .
Years later, Shabana Azmi gave goosebumps as a Carnatic musician in Morning Raga . She trained for almost a year under Ranjani Ramakrishna before lip-syncing to singers Bombay Jayashri and Sudha Ragunathan.
Shabana Azmi in Morning Raga
Similarly, Kiron Kher was a delight as Sardari Begum, bringing Aarti Ankalikar’s singing to life in the Shyam Benegal film. One could see her face contorting and vocal chords stretching with each note.
Mughal-e-Azam
Behind the scenes, classical musicians have always received special attention from filmmakers and composers. From K. Asif paying Bade Ghulam Ali Khan what was then a whopping ₹25,000 to sing ‘Shubh Din Ayo’ as Tansen in Mughal-e-Azam to Sandesh Shandilya pursuing Ustad Rashid Khan for months to get him to lend his voice to ‘Aaoge Jab Tum Sajna’ ( Jab We Met ), the industry is full of stories where composers went out of their way to accommodate a classical musician.
Playback singers also used to be in awe of the stalwarts. Manna Dey, despite being a classically trained singer, refused to believe that he could beat Pt. Bhimsen Joshi in a musical duel on screen. As he admitted in an interview, it took a lot of convincing to make him sing ‘Ketaki Gulab Juhi’ ( Basant Bahar ) with the Kirana gharana stalwart.
Instrumentalists have also played a huge role. The rapport between sitar exponent Raees Khan and composer Madan Mohan is well documented. Remember the lilting strain of ‘Naino Main Badra Chhaye’ ( Mera Saya )? Muzaffar Ali roped in famed instrumentalists to fill the background score of Umrao Jaan .
Film songs also help classical musicians broaden their fan base. Audiences seek Channu Lal Mishra after listening to ‘Saans Albeli’ from Aarakshan; and fans demand that Begum Parveen Sultana end her concert with ‘Humen Tumse Pyar Kitna’ ( Kudrat ) while Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia is still sometimes cajoled to play the Hero tune.
With Rahul Deshpande roped in for Katyar Kaljat Ghushali; Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty for Bandish Bandits and Aneesh Pradhan for The Disciple , the strong tradition continues.
