The everlasting melody
DEEPA GANESH
|
Pravin Godkhindi realises soaring popularity charts is not everything. It is important to retain a connection with the song of the soul
|
PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
FIRMLY GROUNDED Pravin Godkhindi: `It's dangerous to assume that your listener is unintelligent'
"Lights, camera, action... " the three hallowed words associated with the tinsel town and the actor is now the reality of a musician too. The mushrooming satellite channels, the innumerous music-based programmes, now keep the musician constantly on his toes and in limelight. Left far behind are those golden days when the artiste could afford to be temperamental and create music at his own will. Some even had the good fortune of walking into studios at their fancy and order to be recorded. Now, you could well be at the crescendo, embarking on that magical moment, but you have to abandon it right there, for, it's the commercial break. "Market driven it is," concedes flute maestro Pravin Godkhindi, who has achieved a kind of omnipresence in the recent times. Surf the three Kannada channels, and you're bound to find him in more than one at any given point in time, in different capacities. The cameras love him: his cascading curly locks (now ironed out), his bright designer clothes, the huge red tilak that he sports on his forehead, and the way taps his feet and sways to music. Not to miss the delightful switching over between flutes of different lengths.
Different audience
"Music has to be packaged differently depending on who your audience is," explains Pravin, who is constantly moving back and forth from studio to sabha. Speaking of jugalbandhis between Carnatic and Hindustani artistes, he says: "A Carnatic artiste would normally take five minutes for the exposition of a raga, but in the Hindustani approach you would have barely touched upon the first note, shadja, in five minutes." Such experimentations do mean remodelling the traditional approach for a particular concert, but that doesn't essentially mean departing from the core.
The iconic tabla wizard Ustad Zakir Hussain is Pravin's role model. Beginning from the maestro's charisma to his approach to music to the manner in which he took it to the common man, Pravin is enamoured by it all. "Classical music has always been considered high art and is kept away from the layman. But it was Zakir bhai who put even that left out section of the audience at ease," says Pravin. A thinking musician that he is, Pravin is aware of the pitfalls of taking an art to an audience. "I know it's dangerous to assume that your listener is unintelligent. But it is very important to establish a connection, build a rapport and that's what I learnt from Zakir bhai," his eyes light up in admiration. With the arts reeking of rampant commercialization there isn't much choice and it is treading the fine line. "If only the government gave cover for artistes who would want to play to the market forces," says Pravin who straddles many different realms of music.
An engineer by education, Pravin remembers those heady days of his childhood when he and his father, veteran flautist Venkatesh Godkhindi, spent hours together on perfecting that hard to pin down gamak and that three-tired, complex tihai. At Dharwad, he remembers how he skipped classes, locked himself up in his room and listened to that newly arrived tape of Ajoy Chakraborty or Shivkumar Sharma till they wore out. Needless to say, that at the end of it, he had each of those negotiations at his fingertips. "Those many years of intense music lessons is what keeps me going today," owns up Pravin. Surprisingly many composers who excel in their own chosen forms, swell with a sense of satisfaction when they compose a piece in classical music. Pravin is no different. Dabble he may in several genres, but he finds it fulfilling when he gives a classical performance. "I come back home in the dead of the night to listen to a classical piece. It gives me great relief."
Small efforts
Even with very limited options for a fulltime musician, Pravin has made attempts to empower the music connoisseur. He has played raga-based melodies based on popular film songs in his multi-part Ragini and Sur Sagar albums. "While making sleeve notes, I consciously included the name of the raga along with the film song," he recalls. Pravin goes on to say how it is heart-warming when he goes for performances in various parts of Karnataka, people send up chits with requests which will have "Miyan ki Malhar" instead of "Bole re papi". As an extension to these efforts, Pravin now has a show on ETV, Ragaranjani. Modelled on the phenomenally popular Sangeet Sarita that used to be broadcast on Vividh Bharathi, this programme too takes up a classical raga and discusses other genres.
Pravin who became a household name with his outstanding title song for the Kannada serial Garva, believes that no amount of success should prevent a musician from following his daily regimen passed on by his guru. "Make any number of flights, but preserve your core," insists the flautist, who is at the moment excited about his concert with ghazal maestro Hariharan, organised by Aalap Events and Media.
(Pravin Godkhindi and Hariharan perform at Christ College Auditorium, December 17, 6.30 p.m.)
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
