Eight years ago, singer-musician-social activist Vidya Shah celebrated Indian female singers of the gramophone era in a programme titled Women On Record. “These singers were the first to embrace gramophone technology and sing on the public stage. Women On Record was aimed to bring them out of their shadows and restore them to their place in the history of Indian music,” says Shah, who also wrote a book, Jalsa: Indian Women and the Journeys from the Salon to the Studio.
After an overwhelming response to her two shows, Women On Record and Akhtari, (based on the life of legendry singer Begum Akhtar), Shah has now teamed up with Sayema Rahman aka RJ Sayema for the third edition of this series, Aaj Jaane ki Zid Na Karo –Romancing the Ghazal .
On her choice of Sayema, Shah who did the narrative for Women On Record herself with archival visuals and Akhtari with Danish, says, “She has a lot of interest in Urdu and also does a radio show called Urdu Ki Paathshaala. So I thought it will be great to team up with her. Also, we need to look at how Urdu celebrates so many ideas of love and separation - the pathos that ghazals are all about. And how it has been expressed in various voices.” Sayema will narrate a small story before each performance.
Over the years, Shah’s multimedia performances that combine stories and visuals alongside music got music-lovers closer to women who evolved from being mehfil singers to ones whose voices were readily available to tune into during the advent of the gramophone.
In this concert, the accomplished singer will celebrate women ghazal singers. “How can we forget the greats like Mallika Pukhraj, Farida Khanum, Suraiyya Runa Laila and Chhaya Ganguli?” asks Shah, who has composed a nazm (on how women have interpreted ghazals) which she will sing today with 10-11 other ghazals.
Shah is elated that she was able to take the concept to a variety of audience – from ghar ki mehfil to an NCPA kind of forum. “It is nothing short of an exhilarating experience. While some responses are personal, a majority revolve around the style of singing,” she says, citing that’s how Indian music keeps evolving. “This is a very important aspect of our tradition.
Technological implosion should not take away the beauty associated with it. That is why it is important to perform music in live spaces, like mehfils, where you can interact with an audience.
It is important to keep the tradition alive,” she says.
Proof that the tradition has lived on, is the increase in the mehfils organised over the last few years. “As people want more and more, artistes should also be ready to offer them more,” says Shah who performed Khusro Kabir to a full house at Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi last week.
“It is fantastic to see a ticketed performance getting this kind of response. Even today’s IHC show is a sell-out. Delhites are surely warming up to ticketed shows. This trend also breaks the myth that people are only zoning in on Netflix.
Even if a sizeable number is making it to a live concert, it is a great sign.”
Where: Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, Delhi
On: August 10, 7:00pm