Raga Khamaj

In Hindustani Classical music, there is an elite group of Ragas which get picked routinely for the more austere and certainly more complex forms of singing like Dhrupad, Dhamaar or Khayaal. Clearly dhrupad or khayaal is not for everyone. It is for the discerning listeners and accomplished artistes. Then there are several ragas relegated to the Kshudra Prakriti (trans: Lighter Nature) which is usually far more intertwined in the folk traditions of singing. These ragas are used more frequently while singing  Thumri or its lighter form Daadra - both of which are romantic compositions. The seasonal song forms of Chaiti, Hori, Sawani are from UP, Kajri (songs of longing sung during monsoon). The form called Tappa is usually from Punjab, while Tarana is usually sung at the end of a concert, Geet and Bhajans are purely devotional.

Mahatma Gandhi made the devotional song Vaishnava Janato based on Raga Khamaj, almost synonymous with his own name. This bhajan gets a modern interpretation from Pandit Jasraj, Shankar Mahadevan and Jaspinder Narula in this video.

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GHAR – Four Fab Songs

In 1978, Rekha and Vinod Mehra shared the screen in Ghar (trans: Home). The story won the Filmfare award for the best story. Written by Dinesh Thakur, this film explored the trauma of a rape victim portrayed brilliantly by Rekha. This film marked the transition of Rekha from being a B grade bimbette to an actress. She got nominated for the award for Best Actress along with Zeenat Aman for Satyam Shivam Sundaram (talk about raj Kapur’s clout!). A really maudlin performance by Nutan got her the best sctress award. Read more

Sona and the Sound of Music

Sona Mohapatra has a degree in Engineering and an MBA in Marketing. She had a plum job as a Brand Manager in a consumer goods company. She quit that to take up singing. That’s not all. At 5′8″, this MTV Style Icon 2006 trained as a classical singer for 10 years. Her debut video Bolo Na  बोलो ना  (Translation: Tell me naa …) made people sit up and take notice. The song was about drifting relationships. She still bristles when someone describes her music as ‘unusual’. She would rather describe it as a “unique sound” and not unusual.  Her debut album “SONA is a blend of contemporary and ethnic sounds with nuances of Romanian gypsy music, R&B, East Indian baul, Flamenco and North Indian folk rhythms.” At a friend’s I heard the album and liked her sound. The song that lingered on for a long time in its aftertaste was अभी नहीं आना Abhi Nahi Aana (rough translation: Don’t come over to meet me yet … ). I must admit I had initially found the lyrics a bit masochistic. I mean here is the video of a woman pining for her lover and yet she is telling him to not visit her. Ummm … why not? Just so that when they meet, it is just that much nicer. The gal just enjoys pining for the lover boy. Read more

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan

Raga Malgunji – 4 Best Songs

Malgunji is a complex Raga of the Khamaj Thaat. John Campana describes Malgunji as having elements of Rageshri, Bageshri and a few subtle touches of Jaijaiwanti. It is popularly described as being a combination of Raga Rageshri (in the ascent) and Raga Bageshri ( in the descent). If traditionally Bageshri evokes feelings of separation from the lover, and Rageshri represents reunion, Malgunji depicts the initial realization of the reunion. I have always tried to get to know a Raga by listening to film music that is based on the classical raga and only after I have trained myself to recognize those patterns do I venture to hear the maestros perform the Raga in its pristine form. I want to share with you four of my all time favorite compositions from Hindi films based on Malgunji. They represent the works of RD Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Kalyanji Anandji and Madan Mohan. Read more

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