Shrinidhi Ghatate was in class V when she bunked classes and found herself fiddling with the harmonium in the music room. “Our school gave a lot of importance to sports and music. Along the way, I realised I should focus more on music,” says Shrinidhi. She took a bachelors degree in psychology so that she has some education qualification. She doesn’t intend to study further, at least for now.
Raman Mahadevan worked in the quality control wing of an MNC while pursuing music during his spare time. Eventually, he had to choose one over the other. He took the leap of faith and quit his job. “I was earning a decent pay packet and life was comfortable. But if I had to further my prospects in music, I had to take a decision. It was a risky choice back then,” says Raman.
Both these singers are now a part of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (SEL) team. Shrinidhi came aboard a year ago after being spotted by Shankar in the reality show Asia’s Singing Superstar . The Nagpur-based singer moved to Mumbai.
Raman Mahadevan
Raman has an independent music album Ramanasia and film numbers to his credit. He shares the same surname with Shankar but is in no way related to the singer-composer. Raman calls SEL a music encyclopaedia. “There’s a lot on the platter and I get to absorb so much working with them. Ehsaan is a Blues guitarist, Loy is well versed with jazz and rock and Shankar comes from Carnatic music background and has a vast repertoire,” he says.
‘Baithak to Bollywood’ will see the team gradually move from classical to film music, explaining musical nuances. “It was Shankar’s idea to do this in a ‘baithak’ format,” says Raman, who will be a part of the film music section. “We will perform songs from Dil Chahta Hai, Rock On, Kal Ho Na Ho, Taare Zameen Par and Bunty aur Babli ,” says Raman.
Raman learnt Carnatic music from Prasanna Warrier and Girijia Shesu, and tabla from Palash Bordoloi. With time, he focussed more on singing. He is now working on a collaborative album with Jirka Mucha from Czech Republic.
For Shrinidhi, travelling and performing with SEL in different cities has been a dream come true. She says she’s been asking questions and learning by observing the trio, especially Shankar. “He’s excellent with improvisations on stage,” she says. Shrinidhi has sung for Marathi films, ad jingles and for Siddharth Mahadevan’s yet-to-be-released composition. She is looking forward to the ‘unplugged’ section in the concert in which Shankar will present film songs in a new avatar.
What to expect
‘Baithak to Bollywood’ is a part of Aadi Anant festival organised by National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai. The event, which will be held on February 10 at Shilpakala Vedika, will have Shankar Mahadevan and his group taking listeners along a journey of discovering raga, tala and bandish. Beginning with classical (both Hindustani and Carnatic), the team will explore semi-classical, devotional, light and film music and highlight raga and bandish in kriti, padam, bhavgeet, abhang, ghazal, Sufi, folk and film music.
Shankar, Raman and Shrinidhi will be accompanied by Amar Oak on flute, rhythm by Suryakant Surve, dholak by Deepak Bhatt, Manoj Thapliyal on drums, Shon Pinto on guitar, Soumil Shringarpure on keyboard, Prasad Malandkar on dholaks, percussion by Anupam Deghatak, bass by Dibyajyoti Nath, Prasad Padhye on tabla and Amit Padhye on harmonium.
