A musical tribute to Mirabai

Mukthaangan’s maiden production Main toh Govind releases today

Abhradita Banerjee and Charu Hariharan in a still from the video

Main toh Govind , the maiden production of Mukthaangan (meaning ‘free space’), an institution dedicated to the promotion of arts and music in the capital city, is a tribute to Mirabai, the 16th century poet and mystic.

The Rajasthani bhajan cover, releasing today, has been set to tune by Hindustani musician and founder of Mukthaangan, Abhradita Banerjee, and her guru Pandit Madan Chauhan. The music teacher, however, credits her students for being “instrumental” in bringing out the beautifully rendered song. On choosing a Mirabai bhajan for her latest composition, the Bengali singer, who has made the capital city her home, says, “She is one of the finest lyricists of our country. I have observed that South India, especially Kerala, is quite fond of the saint-poet. I believe this popularity can be attributed to the famous (Tamil) biopic

Meera (1945) in which Carnatic legend M.S. Subbulakshmi acted and also rendered some of the bhajans in it.”

Combination of ragas

Abhradita says she had first heard the bhajan in her childhood days and it stayed with her ever since. “I composed my original

Main toh Govind about five years ago actually. But now I could collaborate with my students to bring out a soulfully programmed version of it. The composition is a combination of Charukesi and Mand ragas.”

Kudos for the programming goes to Abhradita’s student and musician Charu Hariharan. Shot among the ruins of old Jain monuments in Chitharal, Tamil Nadu,

Main toh Govind video features, apart from the singers, Charu playing the Spanish percussion instrument, Pandeiro Quadrado. With resonating bassy beats, the exotic Spanish folk instrument lends a touch of freshness. A square-shaped instrument fashioned out of leather and featuring gut strings inside, Pandeiro Quadrado is primarily used in Catalonia (Spain), Portugal, Galicia and the Iberian regions. The instrument can be played singly or by a group using a stick or with hand.

“I first saw the instrument being played by Spanish maestro Aleix Tobias. As soon as I landed in Barcelona, I ordered one (made by the same band) and learnt some basic strokes from Aleix himself. This song required a Rajasthani folk sound and when I played Pandeiro Quadrado with my hand, like playing on a bendir or duff, the beat sounded just perfect — folkish, loud and very subtle at the same time,” reveals Charu. The other key instrument used was the Esraj. “Typically, bhajans feature very few instruments. We added the Esraj to lend a folksy feel about the song,” explains Abhradita. Vocals were rendered by Narayani Gopan, Reshma Raghavendra and Kaanjana Sriram, while Arshad Khan played the Esraj. Backing vocals were provided by Anoop Mohandas, Adithya S.P., Dev Anand S.P. and Sreekanth Hariharan. The song video was conceptualised, shot and edited by Padmakumar T.K.

The song will be released through Mukthaangan’s official YouTube channel at 6.30 pm.