Class gets its due
GAUTAM CHATTERJEE
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Arati Anklikar Tikekar has won the National Award for Best Playback Singer.
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Well deservedArati Anklikar Tikekar
As in other categories, the jury for the National Film Awards came up with a sweet surprise when it announced that the award for playback singer for 2006 goes to a classical vocalist, Arati Anklikar Tikekar. A young artiste of Indian classical music, Arati has won the award for the Konkani film “Antarnaad”. The film has also been released in Marathi as “Saawali”. After Lata Mangeshkar (who, incidentally belonged to the Bhendi Bazar gharana, not Bhindi, for this gharana was named after the area ‘behind the bazaar’ in Santa Cruz where the Ustad of this gharana used to stay in the British period and over the years was distorted by the popular pronunciation to Bhendi Bazar), there were a few female classical artistes like Kishori Amonkar, Kankana Banerji and Sulakshna Pandit who lent their voices forplayback singing. However, they could not continue as the requirements of the films are different and they could not compromise with their classical singing.
“But, I as a playback singer in the film, am maintaining the classical elements,” says Arati. Having earlier rendered songs in the classical mould in Shyam Benegal’s “Sardari Begum”, Arati adds she is not interested in doing playback for “any kind of song in any kind of film”.
“In this story, the mother of the heroine has been a classical vocalist and tries to teach classical ragas to her daughter to train her. I have sung for the mother’s voice.”
The training
Arati grew in confidence under the tutelage of her great teachers like Vasundhara Kulkarni and Kishori Amonkar of Jaipur gharana, Ulhas Kasalkar of Gwalior gharana and is now training under Dinesh Kaikini of the Agra gharana. But she had little experience of working with film music directors. “Of course because I have not done too many films, but this experience, first in Marathi and then in Konkani, was very interesting. Music director Ashok Patki, student of Vanraj Bhatia, gave me a free hand for classical singing. We have used so many ragas like Bhairavi and Bairagi. I have sung thumri and dadra, very much like ‘Sardari Begum’ but thumri singing in films in Maharashtra is not like Eastern parts of the country. Yes, the Rajasthani Maand ‘Balamwa Tum Kya Jano’, I sang was liked more by the film audience,” she explains. Interestingly, Ashok has won the National Award for best music direction for “Antarnaad”.
Arati is ready to sing for films provided the songs are predominantly based on classical ragas. Her bhajan “Mhare Ghar Ana Ji”, based on the pada of Meera Bai, has been much appreciated by listeners. She feels recording for the films and performing on the stage before a huge audience are diametrically different in aesthetics. “I don’t know why film producers and directors are apathetic towards using classical music in films. Also, why were almost all the songs sung by Manna Dey based on classical ragas shot by directors in a ridiculous fashion? Maintaining classicality is necessary both in music as well as its filming.”
Residing in Pune, Arati is not looking for immediate popularity. She is happy that she has won the National award but at the same time maintains, “Classical music is my first choice. Films are secondary and will continue only if I find the director’s attitude towards the classical elements is positive. A classical raga must occupy the soul of film music otherwise we cannot revive our old treasure,” Arati signs off.
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