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the-south-asian.com September 2003 |
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September
2003
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Music
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SHUBHA MUDGAL’S TALES FROM LIFE by Avinash Kalla
She took the nation by storm with her foot-stomping numbers like Ali More Angana and Ab Ke Sawan. Now Shubha Mudgal is back with the intense Kisson Ki Chadar. Supporting her trademark tika-bindi, the pop saint of the swaras is out to prove her taste for classicism is still alive. " This album is not a fantasy. It’s about life. It has moments we can all relate to. It is the poetic representation of the tales that are true to all of us," says Shubha Mudgal. The album in question is Kisson Ki Chadar where the portly singer teams up with old friend and composer Shantanu Moitra with whom she created the memorable Ab Ke Sawan and the not-so-memorable Man Ke Manjeere. The addition to the duo is vivacious poetess Nivedita Joshi who has penned the lyrics. " There are seven compositions and all relate to real life situations. The title track Kisson Ki Chadar reveals the joyful past of an old lady. The writer paints the picture of life with her own experiences. The innocence and simplicity of the lyrics made me want to do Nivedita’s album instantly," says Mudgal, without revealing that Nivedita is the daughter of India’s Human Resources Development Minister Murali Manohar Joshi. Indeed there is no faulting the lyrics. In fact they are intense and describe life passionately. But the problem is that over the years Mudgal has come to be associated with pop classicism and her peppy style is not in keeping with the depth of the lyrics. For some years now purists have complained that Shubha Mudgal has diluted classical music to pander to popular tastes. Though the charge has rested lightly on the vocalist’s shoulders, her new album is being seen as an attempt to counter these charges. But critical carping apart, the fact is that her hybrid singing style has earned the pop diva a legion of fans. Her rich and metallic voice has the robust earthiness of a gypsy. It harks you back to the sounds of ancient India in a modern language. If classical music were the end all, then the likes of pure singers like Shruti Shadolkar and Veena Sahasrabuddhe would certainly steal a march over her range. But it is here that Shubha Mudgal, the popular performer, casts her spell. Musical Magic Her musical magic takes the listeners by the hand and leads them into the vibrant world of urban folk music. Take for example her first big hit, Ali More Angna. She set the Sufi song of rasa and bhakti to the tune of pulse-racing pop. It became a chart-buster overnight and shot her to instant stardom. She followed it with Ab Ke Sawan and the smash hit Dholna the numbers that still set your feet tapping. With her chubby visage and child-like face in Ab Ke Sawan, Mudgal comes across not as the anti thesis but as a pleasant complement to the svelte wannabes gyrating in music videos. Her starring in the album worked wonders. " That just happened. In fact for me it is very difficult to say no to Pradeep Sarkar. When he told me that he was casting me in the video of Ab Ke Sawan, I kept on saying no and every time I said that he kept on repeating the shooting time. He won, but now I have learned to say no to him," says Mudgal. There have been many high points in her career. A couple of years ago she teamed up with singer Shantanu for a charity song Amitasha for the girl child. Earlier she did the Vandematram recording to commemorate 50 years of independence with Lata Mangeshkar. She also gave the musical score in Mira Nair's Kamasutra. Apart from that there have been hundreds of performances in India and abroad and three albums. Kisson Ki Chadar is her fourth album. Her admirers say that while lesser artistes resort to experimentation and fusion to pander to the galleries, Mudgal’s foray into the realm of the avant garde is born of a conscious drive to expand the horizon and free music from bondage. " I believe in music. Khayal and thumari are my favourites, but that doesn’t mean I should not experiment with other forms, Why should I curtail my musical urges?" asks the singer and adds, " I want to allow the artist in me to come through. If you are a musician, how can you say, 'this one is from devotional poetry, so I'm not going to sing it.' True adaptation comes only if the basic nature of poetry and style is not challenged." She says other genres and influences that are seen in her work create a tapestry and mosaic of the contemporary and the classical. While the contemporary in her rides on the wings of success, the classical tests the gravity and depth of the song she is rendering. Being a successful pop classicist why has she refrained from singing for films. To this the lady has an answer that takes everyone by surprise, " I think I am not competent enough to sing for films, every one has certain limitations and I think this is my limitation." Perhaps the limitations are all self-created. She does not want to keep stoking her popular image with every album. She now wants to create a classical aura around her and appeal to the purists. Kisson Ki Chadar is perhaps a step in that direction.
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