Pratibha Singh Baghel & Deepak Pandit/ Inheritance

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Pratibha Singh Baghel & Deepak Pandit/ Inheritance 

Label: Sufiscore

Genre: Thumri crossover 

Rating: ****

Last year, singer Pratibha Singh Baghel and composer Deepak Pandit released the album Bole Naina - Silences Speak, with lyrics and recitation by Gulzar. The album was in the ghazal/ nazm space, while the title track featured tabla maestro Ustsd Zakir Hussain, the songs 'Beqaraan Kaynaat' and 'Raat Ko Jaane' also stood out.

Now, Pratibha and Deepak combine again on Inheritance, which consists of thumris and dadras. While two songs are very well-known to the general public, the other two are familiar to connoisseurs. Yet, the distinguishing factor is the blending of the voice with arrangements played by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.

The traditional vocal fare is thus accompanied by harmony-filled string sections helmed by Tapas Roy, woodwinds and keyboards, with Prashant Sonagra's tabla used predominantly and Deepak's solo violin adding its flourishes. This lends a crossover feel, though the essence of the voice and words is retained. Gaurav Vaswani, who has coordinated the orchestration and assisted Deepak, has ensured subtlety.

The album lasts a bit under half an hour, beginning with the popular 'Hamari Atariya'. The dadra was famously recorded by Begum Akhtar, but attracted the masses when it was filmed on Madhuri Dixit and sung by Rekha Bhardwaj in the film Dedh Ishqiya. The symphonic arrangement gives this version a different grandeur, specially in the dramatic interludes and the interplay between violin and vocal sargams.

The Pahadi-based thumri 'Saiyyan Bin Ghar Soona' has been arranged tastefully, starting with a tanpura backdrop, after which the main line is improvised over a layer of tabla and strings. 'Jab se balam pardes sidhaare, chain jiya naahi paave", sings Pratibha in a nuanced manner.

'Laakhon Ke Bol', popularised by Ghulam Ali, comes next. On the line "Naina laage tum sang sajni", the interplay of the word 'sajni' with the string arrangements is marvellous. "Tumre daras bin jiya nahin laage, maine kya kya julm sahe", go the lines, with emphasis laid on the vernacular pronunciation of 'julm'.

The album concludes with the evergreen Bhairavi composition 'Babul Mora', whose video, directed by Ravi Jadhav, is on air. Over the years, this song has been rendered by various people, from K.L. Saigal and Kishori Amonkar to Jagjit Singh and Alisha Chinai. The symphonic orchestration in this version gives it a different feel, and Pratibha's singing is expressive, while sticking to the known delivery structure.

While each song has been sung, arranged and produced with finesse, one feels an additional thumri or two would have been ideal, maybe rarer ones. Yet, the album lives up to its title of Inheritance, as the emphasis is on carrying forward the traditional, not only in the Indian elements but also in the broader western classical idiom, and fusing them without sounding forced or garish. Maybe a sequel would be worth the wait.