A.R. Divine, a band of seven young musicians trained in different genres and mentored by singer Kailash Kher, will perform at The Experimental Theatre of National Centre for Performing Arts on May 24. The performance is part of NCPA’s Band Baja series.
Band Baja is aimed at promoting innovative endeavours among young musicians that goes beyond boundaries set by musical genres and traditions.
A.R. Divine seeks to explore elements of Sufi and contemporary Bollywood with hues of soft rock and Hindustani music. The band consists of Abhishek Mukherjee (vocal), Rachit Agarwal (vocal), Shivahari Ranade (keyboard and harmonium), Aditya Dhekale (tabla), Neelabh Nath (lead guitar), Graham Gonsalves (bass guitar) and Dhairya Nayak (drums and percussions). The band derives its name from the first letters of the lead vocalists’ names, A and R.
“It will be a beautiful surprise for music lovers, with our band mostly singing the original compositions of Kailash ji and his Kailasa band. We will showcase songs ranging from Sufi to Hindustani classical. We also have a fusion of soft ballads for the audience,” said Mr. Ranade. “Our band tries to maintain the essence of Indian music. But we also try to bring in the element of Sufi and contemporary Bollywood together with a note of soft rock and the harmony of Hindustani classical,” said Mr. Dhekale.
Musical unity
The band believes their uniqueness is in this musical unity, which binds them together. Recalling its initial days, Mr. Nath said, “It all started when Abhishek and Rachit came together on the sets of a music reality show. Even though their genres were different, namely Sufi and Bollywood, their soul was one as they felt some energy binding their voices together. And while we were still dreaming of coming together as a band, Kailash Kher gave us a platform and motivated us to go ahead with our passion. He called it divine intervention, and also referred to our voice as divine, which led to the creation of the beautiful band called A.R. Divine.” Mr. Kher unveiled the band on July 7, 2018, at an event called Nayi Udaan .
Kailash Kher summed up the performance thus: “You will find happiness in the songs that the band performs and even if you don’t know the songs, you will surely hum and sway along with them.”
Dr. Suvarnalata Rao, Programming Head — Indian Music & Research Scientist at NCPA, said Band Baja was a unique initiative to promote young talent.
“At NCPA, we constantly strive to promote and preserve the best there is to offer in Indian music as well as train and mentor young artists. The Band Baja series promises to give an extravagant experience with outstanding performances by well-known artists from A.R. Divine.”
