Mission music
SARASWATHY NAGARAJAN
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Durga Jasraj aims at popularising Indian music.
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Photo: S. Gopakumar
RIGHT PITCH: Durga Jasraj hopes to make youngsters aware of India's rich musical heritage.
Durga Jasraj does not need an introduction. Not with a surname that has become eponymous with pure music. After making her mark as a television host, model, singer and event manager she was not content to rest on her laurels or her surname alone. Thus was born Indian Music Academy (IMA), a fraternity of musicians devoted to popularising Indian music.
"Our aim is to reach out to the younger generation and make them aware of the rich heritage of Indian music. We are trying to popularise all genres of music, including film music. Although the concept was created in 2000, it took me six years to get it going," she explains.
IMA's first programme is `Jalsa,' which features 12 concerts all over India.
Attention to detail
"Each concert will have a senior artiste and an up-and-coming singer or musician. The first concert in Hyderabad had L.Subramaniam and Sanjay Abhyankar. A question and answer session will follow each concert," says Durga who firmly believes that presentation and fine attention to detail can make a difference in attracting a young media-savvy generation.
"An older generation of music buffs were quite happy to listen to good music but today, if you want to catch the attention of youngsters, you have to catch their visual attention first; only then will they sit through a concert."
Not a difficult task for Durga who happens to be V. Shantaram's granddaughter.
So she sees to it that her shows have aesthetic stage settings and lighting to suit the mood of the concert. The former hostess of Zee Antakshari explains, "We made 26 episodes on Indian classical music for STAR Plus called `Utsav.' If you want to stop your viewers from reaching for the remote, the visuals must also be riveting. Similarly our company `Art and Artistes' had presented an audio-visual show `Tiranga,' an amalgamation of poetry, music and lighting. Many parents told me later that their children were mesmerised by the show. So, these youngsters, many of whom did not know what ragas were, got a superb introduction to their heritage and Indian music."
The founding members of IMA are Durga's father, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Javed Akhtar.
In addition to popularising Indian music, IMA plans to help artistes in need of medical attention. "We have tied up with some of the best hospitals in the country to provide treatment at concessional rates. So, when a member informs us of an ailing artiste who is in dire straits, we try and get him the best medical attention at a hospital that is nearest to his place of residence."
Next on the anvil is another `Jalsa.' "Next year, we might have another Jalsa that will promote Indian folk music. So, there will be two Jalsas - one for classical music and one for folk music," she says.
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