In the city on a musical tour, Pankaj Udhas tells us why Ghazal is here to stay

The musical ties between Padma Shri Pankaj Udhas and Kolkata can be traced back to four decades, when the Ghazal maestro began his journey. The City of Joy is all set host this iconic voice behind Chitthi Ayee Hai and Chandi Jaisa Rang Hai Tera on June 4, and this time for a noble cause.

In a conversation with Indulge ahead of the concert, the Padma Shri awardee opens up about what is bringing him back to Kolkata, why commercial music is losing originality, and the importance of Urdu ghazals in keeping the cultural fabric of our country intact.

Your connection with Kolkata is more than forty years old. How has the music-scape of the city evolved over these years?

It’s been 42 years for me in the industry and Kolkata has played an extremely significant role in my journey. I remember coming to Kolkata for a performance organised by a really young group in 1980 itself and staying back in the city beyond the allotted time. Subsequently, I was here at Netaji Indoor Stadium in 1986 again, and it was extremely rewarding for a solo Ghazal artist like me who hardly had any Bollywood connections at that point, to perform for a house-packed audience of 12,000 people. I was told it was extremely rare for a solo artist apart from legends like Pandit Ravi Shankar and Lata Mangeshkar to have a packed Netaji Indoor Stadium. I went on to perform extensively for the Bengali audience thereafter and it’s been so enriching everytime.

Your upcoming concert is themed around “Cultural Diversity with Religious Unity”. In the current times, how important is Ghazal according to you, to bring people together through cultural aspects?

To begin with, Urdu is a language that has emerged out of Indian roots and I will not like to associate it with any particular religion. From my perspective, it is one the finest cocktails of lingual diversity that has Arabic, Persian and Old Hindustani influences and hence there is no point in discriminating a language based out of biases. Ghazal on the other hand is a format of poetry that definitely has its base built on Urdu but has been composed in other languages as well. Ghazals are mainly made up of two liner Shers, which when expressed in Urdu can convey the deepest of sentiments in the best possible way. Urdu is just a medium of expression and communication and I don’t believe in associating it with any particular religion or community.

What according to you is pushing commercial music towards remakes and adaptations?

Honestly, I am at a loss of words when it comes to this as well. Commercial music had its own flavour even up till the nineties and it’s truly concerning as to why it has arrived here today. I believe there are multiple aspects that have contributed to this, the first one being the kind of cinema that is being made. Music has somewhere lost its place in cinema and taken a backseat. Thoughts are being conveyed through dialogues, and sadly foul language in many cases. The second factor according to me is that the younger generations have resorted more to dance and upbeat zones.

Naam gum jayega, Chehera yeh badal jayega, Meri awaaz hi pehchaan hai still has its relevance decades down the line and even when the song was being played when Lata ji passed away it evoked a plethora of emotions in people. I truly believe there’s still no shortage of good authors, composers and singers but it is extremely saddening that we have arrived to a point where songs hardly strike a chord anymore.

What can we expect next from you?

Two of my albums are all ready to be launched and we are targeting to make one of them accessible by June 15. It’ll be a collection of twelve melodious poetries. I am also looking forward to launching my own Youtube channel soon.

What: Pankaj Udhas Live

Where: Science City Auditorium, Kolkata

When: June 4 (7pm onwards)

Contact: Details on BookMyShow