| Anup Jalota Unplugged By Kavita Chhibber
We
get personal with the bhajan and gazal samrat.
He
is called the bhajan samrat, the ghazal maestro and
performs an incredible 12 concerts every month, traveling
around the world five, six times a year. He accomplished
in five years what took Elvis Presley27, when in 1998
he surpassed Presley's record of 45 gold and platinum
discs with 58 discs of his own. What is innately attractive
about Anup Jalota is his infectious smile, mischievous
and impish, a great sense of humor and a persona utterly
devoid of ego, as he happily irons his own clothes prior
to his concert ("believe me its very therapeutic to
iron clothes") and attempts to squat on the floor because
a second chair was occupied during this exclusive interview
with Little India.
 Your father Purshottam
Jalota is a renowned Bhajan exponent. How easy was
it to learn from your own father, and were you a child
prodigy?
It was not easy to learn from him in the sense that
he was very strict and also I think he felt oh I am
always here and Anup is always here, so I will sit
and teach whenever convenient. He is a fantastic teacher
and at any given time has around 300 students, but
I don't think he was teaching me enough. I also don't
think I was a child prodigy. I was taught to sing
well and worked very hard, but I think somewhere within,
the gift was always there. I had music in my blood.
My mother was a very good Kathak dancer and I inherited
the "lay" and "sur" from her as wel,l but initially
all I had was this sense that I possess this gift
and I need to nurture it. So I did, with a lot of
hard work and first performed at the age of 7 before
an audience of 10,000 people.
Then when you grew up you headed for Bombay and
Bollywood.
Yes I completed my musical studies in Lucknow University.
After that I started my singing career with Kishore
Kumar, and also by singing film songs on stage in
Lucknow for a mere Rs. 35 and in parties and was called
the junior Kishore. I came to Bombay in 1974 and worked
as a singer in the All India Radio Chorus Group for
Rs 350 while giving private tuitions to survive. When
I came to Bombay I was not at all known, while I was
a very popular star in Lucknow and in my college.
But the city of Bombay was already full of too many
stars and stars in the making and I was nowhere!
I was a sportsman too and sportsmen believe in challenge
and so I refused to give up. At that point I was 25
and it suddenly occurred to me that bhajan singing
is a dry subject and very difficult to sing. In ghazal
for instance, you just say a few couplets and people
say wah wah, but in bhajan sometimes even when you
sing well it has a limited audience. I felt that if
I could sing bhajans and somehow give them a universal
appeal I might be able to create a newer, younger
audience. I did it and succeeded very quickly. In
fact many film music directors were very annoyed with
me, especially Lakshmikantji who would say I compose
music for you and you never show up, because I would
turn down offers to sing film songs. I did sing a
few numbers but I loved singing on stage more and
had to choose between the two. To this day I love
to sing on stage and I do 12 shows a month.
 So how has the
rendition of bhajans and ghazals changed over the
years? There is an allegation against Pankaj Udhas
and you that both of you have diluted the classical,
more traditional gayaki style of ghazal perfected
by people like Begum Akhtar.
The lyrical content and quality has changed and lacks
depth. When you don't get lyrics with depth then you
sing, may I say, lightly. I do make even my bhajans
spicy and fun. I have tried to make bhajan singing
more contemporary, giving it a fast and rhythmic style
because people today want to dance with the bhajans
and because of that the monotony associated with bhajans
is a thing of the past.
At the same time bhajan singing is not just entertainment,
it should inspire and uplift you as a human being
when I sing and you listen to the works of great saints.
Chadariya Jhini re Jhini for example is a bhajan that
is always inspiring to sing and is the number 1 choice
of audiences worldwide. This kind of song takes no
time to create music for as well, because the lyrics
are so beautiful. On the other hand a song like Chaiyyan
Chaiyyan does not require deep lyrics, because Rahman
created amazing music for it but then how long will
you listen to it? It's not going to be an all time
classic like Chadariya, because the latter has vintage
lyrics and music. Then today you have disco bhajans
that are ruining the genre. I heard one bhajan mandir
ke peechey kya hai, and another one Mata ka telephone
aaya hai. Where is the question of inspiring devotion
here! As for ghazal singing and the allegation against
Pankaj and me, in truth ghazal has no style. If Begum
Akhtar was the only perfect singer with the most perfect
style then there would be no Mehdi Hasan, no Ghulam
Ali and Jagjit Singh. Nowhere is it written in books
that you have to sing a ghazal like this or that.
In ghazal your focus is to present the lyrics of a
poet musically, with feeling and depth and you can
sing it any style.
I improvise and sing within the classical tradition.
As long as you sing with feelings and depth you will
always touch people's hearts. Classical music is the
base, but it's not everything. Otherwise Pankaj Udhas
will not be so popular. He sings with depth and simplicity.
All the singers of today are different and loved by
their admirers and may be that's why I am also surviving.
Everyone is not musically literate and besides, I
feel that you can enjoy music most when you have not
studied music. Otherwise you invariably become a critic.
I have always strived to sing simply but also show
my classical knowledg,e so someone who is well versed
in classical music will know that I have a strong
foundation rooted in classical music and will appreciate
those touches and a novice will enjoy the pleasure
of just listening to good music and I'm really happy
that I end up giving pleasure to all kinds of audience
and you know I have shared the stage with Pundit Jasraj,
Hariprasad Chaurasia on the one hand and Usha Uthup
on the other!
So how did it feel singing together on stage with
people like Lata Mangeshkar, Ghulam Ali and other
legends. How do you avoid the ego and one upman ship
that comes into play often?
The singers you mentioned have tremendous differences
in style. Lataji accomplishes in three minutes what
we take about three hours to do. Ghulam Ali Sahib's
technique and the perfection of "swar" of Mehdi Hassan
are incomparable. When I hear these great artists
I feel I have a long way to go. I also feel that all
of us have our own gifts and our own niche. If you
love and respect the artists you perform with and
give credit where it is due, there is no question
of egos clashing. How has the audience changed over
the years and where do you enjoy performing the most?
There is a big difference in the audience today. There
are very few promoters like Yashpal Soi who are interested
in trying to revive our rich classical and traditional
music. Whoever is starting out is into pop music and
Bollywood shows and they really have nothing to offer
culturally today. When the younger generations hear
that kind of music and watch these frivolous shows
or the frivolous movies that are coming out they think
this is what Indian culture must be. We are trying
to revive the same tradition, which our elders propagated,
and it its interesting that often I find the younger
generation being surprised that we can create an entire
orchestra with just three people. One good thing is
there are two 24-hour TV channels in India now that
are totally for devotional and classical music, but
the other channels are spoiling the taste of our future
generations.
As for performing, I love performing before an Indian
audience in any city, because in India every listener
is an appreciative audience, while here you only have
one percent of the people as your audience. Maharashtra
remains my favorite state, because of the knowledge
and appreciation people have for vocalists though
for instrumentalists I think Calcutta is the favorite
and most popular city.
 So are you saying
you would never dabble in fusion music, as seems to
be a trend these days?
I will definitely do Indi pop or fusion if there is
depth in the lyrics and if it is tastefully done.
I like what Hariharan has done so far for example.
I believe once you are totally satisfied with your
work and your achievements then you are open to experiments.
Maybe I have achieved that satisfaction today and
am open to doing some experiments. It is tough to
bring out the best of both traditional and contemporary
music without losing out on your basic foundation,
but it can be done. Right now as a matter of fact
I'm working on an album where I am singing Thumri
and Khayal and the background music will be contemporary.
So when you look back, what are you most proud
of and what more is left to achieve?
I was always laid back and content. If I sang one
song well I would be thrilled that this is my piece
of cake for today! I have recorded 200 albums and
never imagined I would achieve the success I did.
At that time I was only thinking that this is difficult
music, but I enjoy singing it and I will survive.
There is a lot left to create. I have sung the Ramayana
and Bhagwad Gita and today I want to record the Vedas,
which have no music so you have to chant without melody.
I have met with many Vedic scholars and Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi as well, all of them have discouraged
me. Doing Ramayana and Gita took a lot of research
and each took three years to create. But I will be
presenting the Vedas. I create a lot of my music when
I am flying, because I travel a lot. I produced a
movie Hum Diwane Pyar Ke, sang and composed music
for it and I am producing another film. You live only
once and I feel one should fulfill all of one's desires.
I also have my own music company where I want to nurture
and give a break to singers who are committed to preserving
good music.
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End Of Article.....
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