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Botanist's love of lyric
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Ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas who was in the city last week remembered how people would buy tickets in black for his shows in the 1980s
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Pankaj Udhas: `I have led a rollercoaster life without knowing what lies ahead of me each day.'
BOTANY'S LOSS was music's gain. Did you know that Pankaj Udhas studied B.Sc. Botany and dropped out while pursuing his Masters in the same subject?
Udhas was in the city for Ghazal Nite, a concert in aid of CPAA (Cancer Patients Aid Association). This is a cause, which is very dear to him, since he lost his father to cancer. So whenever CPAA asks him to perform, he is willing to perform unconditionally.
Dressed in a casual grey shirt and black trousers, he spoke about his passion for singing and his life as a singer at the Windsor Sheraton. In between quick sips of tea he says, "The city has some sort of magic. I used to come here on projects from college in the '70s. My performances in the 80s here used to be completely sold out at Chowdiah. Tickets used to be sold in black," he smiles.
He loves the city's weather and is able to identify landmarks like the Trinity Church and the Golf Course, which he feels is "one of the finest". In 1971-72, Udhas recorded his first song as a playback singer for the film Kamna, for which Usha Khanna composed the music, but no one noticed him. Ultimately, out of dejection, he moved to Canada in 1976 to do something else, but came back in 1977 to try his luck again. "I sang in small concerts in Canada and America. I didn't make it big, but I came back to India in 1977." In 1980, he cut his first album, Aahat.
I ask him if he believes in destiny. "Yes, I think I was destined to become a singer. There's no bigger example of that than me. I have led such a roller-coaster life, without knowing what lies ahead of me each day," he says. In fact, he has completed 24 years singing in his mellifluous voice, and for his silver jubilee year celebrations he plans to bring out his memoirs.
Udhas comes from a family of zamindars in Rajkot, Gujarat. His father was fascinated by the been (the north Indian version of the veena), so he asked Abdul Kareem Khan, a musician whom he admired a lot, to teach him the instrument. But he taught him the dilruba instead. "My father took interest and learnt it with a lot of dedication, so Khan saab was very impressed. My mother was not a professional singer, but she sang beautifully. And then, the only source of entertainment was radio. My brothers would sing too. My family would sing and play the dilruba. Probably this had an effect on me," he says.
But how was it when he was trying to establish himself earlier on in his career? "It was very difficult. Those days, for ghazal singers it was essential to know the language and shastriya sangeet. So to convince people that you could sell in the market was difficult."
He owes his success to Gobind Mirchandani, one of the directors at India Book House, who spotted him singing at a private party. They had just decided to sell pre-recorded cassettes with the help of their book chains. "I was in a dilemma whether or not to do it, because there were other reputed music labels with whom I could cut an album like HMV and Music India (now Universal). But since he showed so much faith in me, I decided to give it a shot. After a while, IBH sold the masters of the album (Aahat) to Music India. They produced an LP, which had a moderate response. They asked me to sign an agreement for three years. That was how my career took off."
He admires Begum Akhtar and Mehdi Hasan, both of whom are a source of inspiration.When it comes to international acts, he likes The Beatles. "In fact I have a poster of theirs in my studio. I also like Neil Diamond and Diana Ross."
Udhas has also sung a song for the Kannada movie Sparsha. "That was a great experience. The director Sunil Kumar Desai took lot of pains to explain what each word meant, so that I wouldn't just be mouthing something. So I emoted accordingly," he remembers.
So why aren't ghazals as popular as pop these days? Why does it have such a small and niche audience? "For one it is to do with a mental block. The moment you say ghazal, people say it is difficult to understand and so you lose out on audiences. This is something that we have to change. Secondly, they say it is slow, andd thirdly, the language is difficult for people to understand." The younger generation is more interested in playback or pop singing these days, he feels.
"There are three to four singers whom I have showcased in the Khazana musical concert. I want to promote them. I have taken them on to do concerts so they can get a foothold in the mainstream," he reveals.
DOLLY JOHN
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