Bengaluru is all set to witness another Roysten Abel (The Manganiyar Seduction, The Kitchen and Weaving Voices) masterpiece hardly six months after A Hundred Charmers stole the collective heart of the city. Beat Route in collaboration with Bhoomija Trust will be an exciting performance that fuses traditional rhythms with a contemporary soundscape and will feature music composed by rhythm expert Ranjit Barot. Beat Route brings together ten master folk percussionists from Rajasthan and Kerala with Ranjit Barot to deliver an exceptional drumming experience. The production will also see powerful visuals crafted by award-winning filmmaker Kabir Singh Chowdhry and promises to immerse the audience in a mesmerising sensory journey. We caught up wit Ranjit and Royston to find out more about what we could expect at the show.
“Gayathri Krishna from Bhoomija wanted me to do something with percussion that I was familiar with. I got in touch with Ranjit Barot to come in as a collaborator and then we called up Kabir Singh Chowdhry to come in as the filmmaker. That’s how it came together. We’ll be featuring 11 artistes (including Ranjit) and like the name suggests, we’ll be tracing the Beat Route between each of these instruments played by the individual artistes,” begins Royston.
“It’s basically a celebration of some of India’s oldest drumming traditions and a modern look at them because what we’ve done is we’ve created a piece of music that drives that instrument and gives it a platform to showcase itself. I’ve approached each instrument individually and tried to understand its more nuanced elements and created a piece of music that will allow it to shine. We’ve got the kartaal, the morchang (morsing), the bapang, the nagada, the dhol and the cheep from Rajasthan and the chenda, the mizhavu and the elathalam (cymbals) from Kerala,” Ranjit adds.
Featuring Kalamandalam Ratheesh Bhas and Kalamandalam Ravikumar Babu on mizhavu, Kalanilayam Satheesh Kumar and Sadhanam Anoop on chenda; and Anadhapuram Sajeev on elathalam, the performance will beautifully capture the rhythms of Kerala. From Rajasthan, Deu Khan (kartaal), Khete Khan (morchang and bapang), Kailash Damami (nagada), Lakat Khan (dhol) and Mahendar Khan (cheep) bring their vibrant beats to life. Together, this lineup promises to immerse the audience in an enchanting exploration of sound.
“I guess, to summarise what you can look forward to: you will have an experience like you’ve never had before. It’s a new sound and it’s a very exhilarating sound. It’s going to be very hard to sit back in your chairs at Chowdiah (Memorial Hall). It’s also an immersive experience with the video and this brand new sound,” Roysten chips in.
“Yes. Come see something new. Try not to think of it as an evening of entertainment. You actually will have a window into my life, my struggle and my commitment and what you’re seeing is the evolution and spontaneity of a musician. That’s a wonderful thing to behold. Forget about the entertaining part. Engage in the life-affirming values that we all share. It has nothing to do with music or writing or dance. It’s just a constant, innovative, enjoyable struggle and you’re getting to witness that firsthand,” Ranjit concludes.
The beat within Ranjit
How did you choose the drums as your instrument of choice?
I think the drums chose me. I don’t think I chose the drums at all. I was born in England and I studied there till I was about 10 and I came back to India with a cockney accent. I was a Manchester United fan and I thought I’d be a soccer player. Although my mother was this classical dancer and I had the arts around me, I was not inclined to playing music. Of course, I loved listening to music, but as a profession, I honestly never thought of it. I think, I was about 14 when I got to play with a band at some talent competition and it just changed my life. Even at that early age, when I went to bed that night, I knew something had changed. I think the drums just found me, chased me down and said, I am your calling and I said, OK! I was a very happy accomplice, you know.
INR 750 onwards. October 5, 5 pm & 8 pm. At Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Vyalikaval.
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