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A class apart
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Vocalist Shubha Mudgal talks about the crests and troughs of music
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Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash
Always grounded Shubha Mudgal
She is tired of being tagged. If the old school of thought calls her a rebel, the modernists consider her a new age diva. But Shubha Mudgal refuses to be grouped. “I don’t understand why people get so touchy about a classical musician g
etting into film and popular music. I have been asked innumerable times why I made that shift. If film music is bad music, does that mean what our Lataji and Ashaji sing is bad? Of course not! Why divide music into good and bad? Please keep casteism out of music,” she retorts.
Classical touch
The voice behind the poignant ‘Laaga Chunari Mein Daag’ besides ‘Ali More Angana,’ ‘Dolna,’ ‘Ab Ke Sawan’ and ‘Mathura Nagarpati’ from ‘Raincoat,’ is still enjoyed by music lovers worldwide. The title song of the latest Pradeep Sarkar film was taken from 1963 classic film, ‘Dil Hi Toh Hai’ by the same name and was sung by the legendary Manna Dey.
“You can never replace the original but I have done what the movie and the music director wanted me to do,” explains Shubha who will lead her voice for a film by a Pakistani filmmaker titled ‘Ramchander Pakistani.’ It has music by Debjyot Mishra, her favourite composer.
Classical rendering is no longer a part of Hindi film, which is the reason why she is not heard very often. “Bollywood believes that female voice should be high pitched, even if an actress’s original voice is not so. Base voice is only used for item numbers,” she quips.
In spite of the fact that she has drawn a lot of youngsters to classical music with her style she doesn’t want to take any credit.
“ The real divas are people like Gangubai (Hangal) and Kishori (Amonkar),” says the Allahabad-born artiste.
She refuses to believe that the number of classical music listeners has decreased. But then she doesn’t deny that listening has, indeed, become a dying art. “You find people chatting either with the next person or on the phone. If it is a doctor attending to an important call I understand but not otherwise. Just think of the musician who is performing with intensity and concentration on the stage. It is very disturbing,” says the singer.
MANGALA RAMAMOORTHY
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Visakhapatnam
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