His name is synonymous with such iconic songs as Ooo la la la ( Sapnay ), Dola dola ( Dil Hi Dil Mein ), Ta ra rum pum ( Doli Saja Ke Rakhna ) and Yeh jo zindagi hai ( 1947 — Earth ), that confirmed his status as a versatile and talented playback fixture in the film world. So it was perhaps a bit of a surprise when the chemical engineer-turned-playback singer decided to release an album of ghazals, a tribute to the legendary Mehdi Hassan, called Timeless Classics . The album was recently released with much fanfare in Mumbai with A R Rahman as chief guest.
Excerpts from the interview with Srinivas:
For someone whose musical sensibilities have been shaped in the Carnatic tradition, how did ghazals attract you?
I have been listening to ghazals for the past 25 years. I used to be crazy about these wonderful songs. Many of my friends, who are also fans of ghazals, wouldn’t have even heard many of the gems that I had listened to. I wanted to sing these ghazals, interpret them through contemporary acoustic arrangements and do something new. Of course, I’m not doing any favour to these ghazals. I am just trying to present them in a new format with a new sound. But we are
particular about not losing the essence of the compositions.
What kind of sounds did you want for these ghazals?
My arranger Hentry Kuruvilla and I jointly arranged these songs, and Hentry has done a wonderful job. Some wonderful musicians have played with us, like Navin on flute, Kalyan on violin, Kebah on guitars and Punya Srinivas on veena I guess this is the first time that we have veena featuring in a ghazal album. This is not a puritanical work. Arrangements are new.
For example, we have only violins in Patta patta . In Bhooli bisri , we just have a groove with no heavy rhythm. For Rafta rafta , we brought in guitar reggae. All the songs have been treated with different orchestration.
How did the singer in you feel?
I sang to my heart’s content. Mehdi Hassan sahab has been my favourite singer and I have learnt a lot by just listening to him. I did learn carnatic music from my guru Padma Narayanan and that’s a must. I believe that practice is crucial for a playback singer, but you have to love the music. In my case, it happened with ghazals and that was why I was able to absorb it. We had poets like Raqueeb Alam helping us with Urdu diction.
Did it affect you on an emotional level?
There is an emotional awakening in you when you sing ghazals. Every ghazal is a gem. I have not been able to pick some of the finest ghazals from Mehdi sahab. The songs that I have picked for this album are my personal favourites. When Rahman heard them, he appreciated it a lot. He suggested lots of changes in the orchestration and we have worked on them to give album a more acoustic feel. We sang a ghazal-ish song ( Zindagi zindagi ) in Yuvraaj . Gulzar sahab’s words and Rahman sir’s arrangement were very inspiring.
Do you think there is a market for ghazals in south India?
In Kerala, there is a small market for ghazals There isn’t much of a scope in Tamil Nadu. Maybe that’s why it took me 25 years to come up with this album
What was your biggest challenge?
We needed to take appropriate rights and licences. SaReGaMA helped me a lot to get this done legally. You need to respect the original artiste who created these songs in the first place. This album was ready more than a year ago, but we waited for the requisite permissions.
Apart from Mehdi Hassan, who are the other ghazal singers whom you drew inspiration from?
Jagjit sahab is one. I also love Hariharan’s ghazals. It is so awe inspiring to see Ghulam Ali sahab performing with his own unique style.
Do you see a potential for ghazals in Tamil?
People have tried it before. We have great lyricists like Vairamuthu who can write wonderfully, but the album scene in Tamil is not good. You have to sing for Vijay or Rajinikanth for your song to be a hit
Is that a worrying trend?
Yes, because this phase has been there for a long time. But, musicians have to come forward to change it. We are happy producing film music and only a few film directors have great musical sense. When I produced this album, I had to spend money from my own pocket. I really think we need to create more musical albums.
What was it like to work with AR Rahman as in-charge of vocal supervision?
Only after I became a vocal supervisor did I become a better singer. It has been a great learning process and I have grown in confidence. Most of the times, I do 50-60 per cent of the recording independently with the singers. But when he comes in and listens to what we have done, within a few minutes he would come up with ideas that completely transform the song. He spots the finest of points that we tend to ignore.
How interesting does it get when Karthik and Chinmayi sing in Hindi and Shreya Ghoshal sings in Tamil?
Karthik and Chinmayi have worked on their Hindi diction and they are perfect. Shreya’s Tamil is very good too. So we do not have much of a problem. But, at times, when we want a particular singer for his or her distinct voice, we work on the diction. People who understand the language do not want to hear mutilated words. But singers like Sadhana Sargam have shown the way for others.
What is your advice to the young singers selected by reality TV shows?
I think that reality TV is a great platform. I always wanted to sing for RD Burman so I went to Mumbai to study chemical technology. But, for an introvert like me, there was no scope. TV shows provide a great platform.We need to
remember that as long as you take care of your music, your music will take care of you. Focus has to be on music. There are so many shows these days that it tires you, but I do enjoy listening to these programmes.
— Chinmaye is a freelance photographer and musician. bchinmoye@gmail.com