An answer to the puritans, who have time and again accused him of tampering with the ghazal form? "I don't take ghazal as a classical form with which you can't experiment. It's not like raag Bhairavi or Malkauns where there have to be certain notes. Over the years, most people have appreciated my efforts for making the genre popular at the global level particularly at a time when Urdu as a language is fading. At the same time, some have criticised me on the basis of pure and impure ghazal but they have never been able to distinguish between the two."
Pankaj agrees there is limited scope to experiment with the ghazal form. "I see it as a handicap. It's not only me; over the years, people have taken liberties with ghazal in their own way. When Begum Akhtar sang ghazal in thumri andaaz, eyebrows were raised.
When Mehdi Hassan introduced new instruments he was criticised, for, it was expected then that ghazal should be sung only with tabla and sarangi. Here Jagjit Singh had to face the ire for incorporating guitar and saxophone. One is not vouching for making ghazal palatable to clubs but certain liberties are okay as long as they do not infringe upon the lehja and metre of the shers."
As for the verse, Pankaj says 400 years back people did understand Persian and Arabic. Today, the common man's vocabulary has changed. So you can't expect the Nida Fazlis to write in that format. Words can't make Mirza Ghalib classical and the contemporary writers pop."
Pankaj is the one who has managed to look beyond Ghalib. His album "In Search of Meer", brought back the much forgotten Meer, the father of Urdu poetry, on the charts. "People don't want to take the pain to do research and try something new. That is why Ghalib has overshadowed most Urdu writers.
Ghalib himself maintained Meer was the greatest poet before him. He was referred to as Khuda-e-Sukhan. I have taken the task to sing the works of poets who haven't made it to public memory. I am doing research on Daag. Followed by Sahir Ludhianvi. In his `Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Main Khayal Ata Hai' image people have forgotten his brilliant nazms."
Talking of influences, Pankaj, who hails from Rajkot, considers his father the biggest one. "Not a trained musician though, he used to play dilruba or israj. Then elder brother Manhar, who sang that timeless `Hum Tumhen Chahte Hain Itna', was already a playback singer." Few people know that Pankaj also wanted to start his innings in Bollywood.
No opportunity
"I was always in love with ghazals but there was hardly any scope then. So the obvious alternative was films. But in the days of Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore there was hardly any opportunity for a newcomer. I sang a song in a film called Kamna and never got an offer again." He decided to give ghazals a try and started from Canada. Soon he became the most coveted singer in the NRI circuit and the rest, as they say, is history. In fact, his second coming to films with "Chitthi Ayi Hai" in Naam had to do with his image.
"I was called for the film. After that I was flooded with offers but now Bollywood was not for me. It would have diluted my image of a concert singer." Time and again, he made an appearance in films such as Saajan and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Kahani Ayi, but every time the song has been shot on him. "I don't see Bollywood as the ultimate platform for fame."
A great regret
No talk with Pankaj can be complete without his prolonged association with songs that promote intoxication in different forms. Pankaj calls it a stigma. "This is the greatest regret of my career. First people don't relate to the deeper connotation of intoxication in Urdu poetry. They take it literally. Of my entire collection, only some 20-30 songs are based on alcohol, but they were genuinely good and became so popular that the music company brought out separate collections of such songs many times over with names like "Maikada", "Maikash" and "Nasha" - on which I have no control - creating an impression that I always sing to promote alcohol. Now every time, I take the stage I first make the concept of intoxication clear."
Pankaj holds the electronic media responsible for the ghazals losing out to popular music. "Older versions still sell. It is the new ones that do not find a market, for, channels are not supporting sensible music. They are going for the eyeballs."
ANUJ KUMAR
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