Kalpana
Patowary, 35, is one of Bhojpuri music’s most popular singers today. She is
often referred to as ‘the Bhojpuri queen’. Originally from Assam, she was
inducted into music by her father, Bipin Chandra Nath, an Assamese folk singer.
She is also a disciple of the legendary Hindustani classical singer, Ustad
Gulam Mustafa Khan. Although her first language is Assamese, she sings in
Bhojpuri, Hindi, English, Bengali and 23 other languages.
Patowary made
her debut in mainstream Indi pop with her remixed album ‘My Heart is Beating’
in 2001. Her first Bhojpuri album, ‘Gawanwa Leja Rajaji’, released in 2003, was
a bestseller and established her as a prominent figure in the Bhojpuri music
scene. Despite her mainstream success, Patowary has continued her interest in
various lesser known folk forms. Her most recent album, for instance, titled
‘The Legacy of Bhikhari Thakur’ is the first recording of the work of Bhikari
Thakur. Known as the ‘Shakespeare of Bhojpuri’, Bhikari Thakur was an Indian
playwright, lyricist, folk singer and social activist, who developed the folk
theatre form of ‘Bidesia’. Fresh off a special performance of Thakur’s songs at
Jodhpur Riff, Patowary is surrounded by
a small group of admirers as she settles down on an empty stage for this interview
with ‘Riff Diaries’.
You are
originally from Assam. How did you come across the work of Bhikari Thakur? What
about his songs appealed to you?
My father is
actually a folk singer and through him I was introduced to Dr. Bhupen Hazarika,
who’s considered a god in Assam. I’ve been inspired by him since childhood. He
wasn’t only a singer or only a lyricist, or only a music director. He had his
own ideas and thoughts. His belief in the Marxist philosophy, for instance, had
led to him writing songs which were revolutionary, like Dhola he Dhola and
Ganga Behti ho Kyon, which he translated too later on. These songs really
influenced me.
When I came to
Bombay I came with big dreams. But I was struggling and there wasn’t much of a
choice about which songs I would be paid to sing. In Assam I had sung a lot of
Western songs in a band. And in Bombay I first did a remix song with Times
Music— My Heart is Beating. Through them I got in touch with T-Series Super
Cassettes and they called me to sing and that’s how I was introduced to the
world of Bhojpuri music. Overnight, suddenly, Kalpana became a Bhojpuri singer.
Whatever people wanted me to sing I would sing— whatever the lyricists wanted.
And I did a lot of work in the Bhojpuri film industry.
But, maybe with
age and maturity, I felt, ‘Who is like Dr. Bhupen Hazarika here (in Bhojpuri
music)?’ I thought about this for some time, and two or three names came to me.
Bhikari Thakur was one of them. Another is Mahendra Misir, and then there’s
Vidyapati, who’s a famous Mithila poet. I found Bhikari Thakur’s name very
strange. Bhikari (beggar) and Thakur (lord)— they’re like opposites. So I
wondered: ‘What is this?’ Then I found out that he was a hajam, a nai (both
these words mean ‘barber’) and an uneducated villager. Despite this he was
knowledgeable. The things he writes about… I am stunned at how anyone can write
like this, on such complex issues, without even being educated. Like his work
Kalyug Prem. Even the phrase ‘Kalyug Prem’— how can a layman even understand
this concept, let alone express it so well? In it he was talking about wine
addiction and using that idea as a metaphor. Many homes in the villages had
been destroyed because of alcohol addiction and that was what he was referring
to, directly.They’re poor people, they don’t have money, yet they’ll spend on
alcohol and hit their wives. This is still going on. We sit in metros thinking
that everything’s fine but it isn’t.
 |
| Kalpana Patowary at Jodhpur Airport |
There was
something else I had begun thinking about as well. Many youngsters come on
musical reality shows, nowadays, especially a lot of girls. When I started 10
years back, girls singing were looked down upon in the world of Bhojpuri music,
but today, especially on the Mahua Channel (a popular Bhojpuri TV channel)
there are a lot of female singers competing with one another and I got the
feeling, and heard too, that some of them want to be like me. So I felt a sense
of responsibility.
So far I had
done mostly ‘item songs’ which were from a completely different world from
this. I said: ‘No, I need to do The Legacy of Bhikari Thakur.’ It took me three
years to do the research as it was difficult. It took many years just to get
the original songs. Bollywood or Bhojpuri films don’t play these types of
songs— the rhythm is completely different. Suddenly I met Ram Mangia Ramji.
There was a show in Dhara village (Chattisgarh) where he performed before me.
He was singing Gangaji. I met him and I asked for his help and we made the
album. I didn’t think: ‘Let’s keep a 35 to 45 rupees tag, a reasonable price.’
That’s why I didn’t go to T-Series or Wave to produce and distribute it. I went
to Times Music and EMI Records. I explained to them and Virgin Records what the
album was about. They understood that I wanted Bhojpuri music to go to a
completely different level, like Punjabi music has gone to, for instance. And I
asked if they could please help me. EMI and Virgin Records saw what I was
saying and slowly The Legacy of Bhikari Thakur was accepted internationally,
and is still being accepted. From that platform, another platform is (Jodhpur)
Riff and that is taking Bhikari Takur one step forward.
How is folk
music relevant to us today? And how can we include it in our modern lives?
MTV’s Coke
Studio is a good example of how relevant it is. This time I was there with
Papon and with Rajasthani folk artists to perform the song Baisara Beera. When
I went for rehearsals what struck a chord with me immediately was Nathulalji
(Nathulal Solanki), who was playing the
nagada… Suddenly it made me remember my father and how he used to make me sit
on the cycle and take me for shows. He was a folk singer. And yet, on the other
hand, were Kalyan Barua and all the others with the lead guitar, the bass and
the beatboxing. There were two worlds coming together. These days everyone is
doing fusion, because that’s what the new generation is interested in. Because
in fusion, the heart, the soul, that bhav(feel), is the same. It’s just some of
the outer structures that they use that are modern. And that’s the way in which
Papon and a lot of other people are working as well…
Have you seen
any of the concerts at Jodhpur Riff?
I missed two or
three. I had heard of yesterday’s evening show with Babunath Jogi… I was
interested in that. I want to do something with him actually. I liked yesterday’s
Scottish and Rajasthani fusion which they were trying to do. But there’s just
one thing. Yesterday I felt the Scottish… Yeh nahin dikhna chahiye ki un logone
Rajasthani ko ‘chance diya’. Aur aap oopar hain, aur Rajasthani music ko sirf
aap ne ‘use’ kiya. Ya toh baraabar ho. Yeh feel nahin honi chahiye ki ‘un
logone humein guide kiya’. (It shouldn’t seem as if they are giving the
Rajasthanis ‘an opportunity’. And that they’re above them, but are simply
‘using’ Rajasthani music. They should be equal. It shouldn’t seem as if one
group in a collaboration is ‘guiding’ the other). But then again, from
Rajasthani or Indian music itself we need music directors and composers to come
up and guide the Rajasthani folk musicians and use elements of their music in
their compositions. Baat ek hi hai, lekin dekhne mein thoda alag hai (It seems
like the same thing—whether the folk musicians are guided, or whether their
music is imbibed, by an Indian or foreign musician—but when put together one
combination seems a little different from the other). I have a bit of a problem
with the former (foreign musicians guiding the Rajasthani folk musicians),
perhaps because those musicians come from a completely different ethos. Then I
have heard about this girl from Reunion…
Maya Kamaty…
Yes she was
really good. I missed her performance and Manu Chao, I missed it, though
everyone was talking about it. I also really like the ambience of the festival
in the morning. You don’t see it anywhere else, in any other music festival to this
extent: the idea of music with nature (during Jodhpur Riff’s dawn concerts). It
gets you to try to know yourself. You find yourself. This is (Jodhpur) Riff’s
specialty.
Have any of the
artists or their music interested you?
Are there any
others you would like to collaborate with, besides Babunath Jogi, at the
festival?
Lots. There are
many that I haven’t explored. I’ve done a lot of work with Trilok Gurtu, he’s a
well-known percussionist. And he’s like a mathematical musician.
You’ve done
Massical (Gurtu and Patowary’s music project which involves classical music but
aims to integrate all kinds of music in order to reach a ‘mass’ audience) with
him.
And I’ve done a
lot of shows with him. And after working with him I realized I don’t understand
anything. I mean, on one hand I’m singing and on the other I’ve got to keep
counting beats. I’d like to, at some point, come here with Trilokji, do
something with him. But right now I’m having fun doing everything. I’d like to
sing some Assamese songs here as well…
What kind of
music do you feel would blend well with Bhojpuri or/and Assamese music?
African and
Bihu. Actually all Assamese music, African music would go very well with.
There’s been a lot of greenery in both Assam and Africa, so the traditional music
that stems from life in the forests in these regions may go well together. The
African drum beats— you find a lot of such elements in Assamese music.
You have already
worked with Rajasthani artists on Coke Studio. What did you learn from that
collaboration? Were there any challenges you faced as a singer, in integrating
the Assamese, Rajasthani and Western forms?
When I was
singing Baisara Beera it felt like Bhojpuri singing, nothing different. It was
live-singing in the studio, so, four times, I had to sing this song live. That
was a challenge, to see if you were getting the sur(tone) right. But I enjoyed
everything else. I want to do Bhojpuri next time I do Coke Studio.
For Trilok
Gurtu’s album you worked separately from the other artists (she recorded in
Mumbai). What was the difference between that experience and recording in the
same space? How is that, for you, different from live collaborations at a
concert, like in Jodhpur Riff?
It will
definitely be different. There’s a technical problem when you record live,
because you’re recording everything together. Everyone’s miked together. There
can be leakage from one to another. If I want to increase the volume of the
chorus, then with that the volume of two other musicians, for instance, will
also be increased. Those are the technicalities, but everything else is fine.
In fact, after a rehearsal, when everyone is playing together, then the ‘soul’
is stronger, that bhav (feel) is stronger. In a duet which I’m recording
currently, I’ll sing and then (singer) Udit Narayanji will sing, but there
seems to be no real connection between the two voices because we’ve recorded
our parts separately. When you’re singing and listening at the same time, when
you’re recording together, there is a connect. That’s one drawback (of
recording separately), but then again it’s so convenient, to record that
way…
Apart from
Bhikari Thakur, what other Assamese or Bhojpuri folk singers do you wish to
explore? Also, what role might a festival like Jodhpur Riff play in Bihar or
Assam— in promoting the folk music there?
In Bihar there
are situations that I still don’t understand. If something like this was done
there I don’t know what kinds of problems we’d face. There’s still a lot of
casteism there, for instance, especially politically. So the government there
needs to understand that it is important for a festival like this to take
place. In Assam, of course, it will help a lot. There is a lot of talent in the
entire North East.
Actually, now,
I’m working on a project called Sacred Scriptures of Monikut. Just like the
Bhakti Movement happened all over India, like there was Guru Nanak and
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in Assam Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva spearheaded a
similar movement. But people don’t know about them. For this movement they made
a lot of music. We call it Kirtan Ghoxa and Borgeet. There are many spiritual
songs there and I want to take them in a different direction. These things
could happen so easily if there was something like (Jodhpur) Riff there. Jodhpur
Riff is quite different, even from other festivals in the country. There should
be one in Assam, there should be that vision.
Sourcs# RiffDiaries by Alissa Lobo
(Image: Kalpana
Patowary performs on stage at Jodhpur Riff. Kavi Bhansali/JodhpurRiff)
No comments:
Post a Comment