‘MUSIC NOT THE SAME NOW’
Says Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, who feels that pandits have no value today, and everyone wants to hold concerts without training
Nishad Neelambaran
Little did a young boy — born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, who was forced to learn wrestling — know that he would go on to become one of the best flautists of his generation. It is safe to say that Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, who has been a part of the music industry for over six decades, has established himself among the legends of classical music in the country.
The 81-year-old has worked with several Western musicians including The Beatles for the 1968 B-Side The Inner Light. The Padma Vibhushan awardee has also released several albums such as Megh Malhar, Night Ragas, Thumri - The Music of Love, and more. The maestro talks to us about why he and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma stopped composing music for films, how Bollywood can never replace classical music, and more. Excerpts from an interview:
You, along with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, composed music for almost eight films in Bollywood. Why did we not see any more of Shiv-Hari?
The main reason was that people stopped making musical films. We never got films which had any musical theme where we could think of composing. If people make movies such as Mughal-eAzam (1960) or Baiju Bawra (1952), then we can compose music for it. Since we are not getting any musically-themed movies, we decided to stop composing for films.
If a movie that fits your musical criteria comes to you, would you take it up?
Yes, I will definitely take it up and I will convince Pandit Shivkumar Sharma also to get back to it.
When we speak of legends in terms of classical music, we have a few handful names like Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, among others. These musicians all rose to fame during the same era. However, we have had a certain void after that. What do you think is the reason?
I feel the reason behind the void is that when people like something or someone’s music, fulfilling their expectations is always a difficult task. For instance, we all have heard Lata Mangeshkar sing. I have not come across anyone else who can sing like her. There are budding singers, but none like her. The kind of music we had back then, it is not the same now. There are a bunch of students who are doing well and this process of making your own name in the music industry is a slow process.
Do you think that budding musicians today are behind instant fame?
Yes, I do feel there are a bunch who feel they are already pandits. Pandits have no value today. They want to do many concerts without proper learning.
Do you think there are fewer opportunities for classical music these days?
Not at all. What God has created, we will always enjoy. Surely, the number of concerts we used to have earlier was more than what we have now, but it can never stop.
You have performed in India as well as across different international destinations. What is the difference between performing in India and abroad? There is not much difference. The only difference is that they like to listen to their music and are interested in listening to others’ music, too. We, in India, are usually limited to our own classical artistes. We have seen international musicians come to India to learn Indian music, and they adapt it really well. We should also adapt to and learn Western music.
Do you think Bollywood music has overshadowed classical music?
It can never happen. There are different kinds of music within classical. We have ghazals, thumri, khayal, dhrupad, and more, and there are people dedicatedly practising them.