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A silver jubilee of intoxication!
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Pankaj Udhas was bestowed with the Padma Shri. The ghazal singer talks on the highs and lows of his career
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PHOTO: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
A TOUCH OF CLASS For Pankaj Udhas Bollywood is not the ultimate platform for fame
`Deewaron Se Milkar Rona Achcha Lagta Hai... ' Life is getting quirky? Play Pankaj Udhas. "Yaaron Mujhe Muaf Karo Main Nashe Mein Hoon... " Idiosyncrasies are getting the better of you? Play Udhas. In the last 25 years the man who has made it to most shelves, now has something to show for it on his shelf too - a Padma Shri.
Says the singer, who was recently felicitated in Delhi where T-Series announced the release of a DVD incorporating 20 of Udhas's popular songs under the title "Jashn", "I don't think the award has come too late in the day. In fact, I have been grateful to the authorities for the timing. It gives a sense of relief and proves that 25 years of efforts haven't gone unnoticed."
Experimenting
An answer to the puritans, who have time and again accused him of fiddling with the ghazal form? "I don't take ghazal as a classical form with which you can't experiment. It's not like raag Bhairavi or Malkauns where there have to be certain notes. Over the years most people have appreciated my efforts for making the genre popular at the global level particularly at a time when Urdu as a language is fading. At the same time some have criticised me on the basis of pure and impure ghazal but they have never been able to distinguish between the two."
Pankaj agrees that there is limited scope to experiment with the ghazal form. "I see it as an handicap. It's not only me; over the years people have taken liberties with ghazal in their own sweet ways. When Begum Akhtar sang ghazal in thumri andaaz, eyebrows were raised.
When Mahdi Hasan introduced new instruments he was criticised for then it was expected that ghazal should be sung with tabla and sarangi only. Here Jagjit Singh had to face the ire for incorporating guitar and saxophone. One is not vouching for making ghazal palatable to clubs but certain liberties are okay as long as they do not infringe with the lehja and metre of shers."
As for the verse, Pankaj says 400 years back people did understand Persian and Arabic. Today, the common man's vocabulary has changed. So you can't expect the Nida Fazlis to write in that format. Words can't make Mirza Ghalib classical and the contemporary writers pop."
Beyond Ghalib
Pankaj is the one who has managed to look beyond Ghalib. His album "In Search of Meer", brought back the much forgotten Meer, the father of Urdu poetry back on the charts. "People don't want to take pains of research and try something new. That is one of the reasons why Ghalib has overshadowed most Urdu writers.
Talking of influences, Pankaj, who hails from Rajkot, counts his father as the biggest one. "Not a trained musician though, he used to play dilruba or israj. Then elder brother Manhar who sang that timeless `Hum Tumhen Chahte Hain Itna' was already a playback singer." Few people know that Pankaj also wanted to start his innings from Bollywood.
No opportunity
"I was always in love with ghazals but there was hardly any scope then. So the obvious alternative was films. But in the days of Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore there was hardly any opportunity for a newcomer. I sang a song in a film called Kamna and never got an offer again." He decided to give ghazals a try and started from Canada. Soon he became the most coveted singer on the NRI circuit and the rest, as they say, is history. In fact, his second coming to films with "Chitthi Ayi Hai" in Naam had to do with his image.
"I was called for the film. After that I was flooded with offers but now Bollywood was not for me. It would have diluted my image of a concert singer." Time and again he made an appearance in films like Saajan and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Kahani Ayi but every time the song has been shot on him. "I don't see Bollywood as the ultimate platform for fame as many of my contemporaries do."
ANUJ KUMAR
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