Gig review/ Tribute to Shafaat Ahmed Khan

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

Concert: Tribute To Shafaat Ahmed Khan

Artistes; Ramkumar Mishra & Ronkini Gupta

Details: Veer Sawarkar Hall, Shivaji Park, July 24

Rating: ****

(Pictures by blogger)

Like every year, this year's concert organised by Pancham Nishad to pay tribute to late tabla maestro Ustad Shafaat Ahmed Khan featured a vocalist and a tabla exponent. Thus, Ronkini Gupta's vocal recital was followed by a solo performance by Ramkumar Mishra of the Benaras gharana.

Though attendance was affected by the rains and the fact it was Monday, both musicians enchanted the dedicated followers. Ronkini, who has also sung in films, OTT series and independent projects, has a strong taiyyari in classical music. She has a wonderful command over the swaras, and sings taans and sargams with effortless ease.

Her repertoire comprised a mix of compositions by her first guru Chandrakant Apte and her own pieces, besides a popular bandish. Accompanied by Tejavrush Joshi on tabla and Deepak Marathe on harmonium, she began with 'Kal Nahin Aave' in raag Maru Bihag, bringing out its melodic nature. In the same raag, she continued with the beautiful 'Jaagu Main Saari Raina', a piece made famous by Prabha Atre.

Ronkini completed her Maru Bihag trilogy with a rain song, announcing that there could be such pieces outside the Malhar family. It was her own composition with the words, "Boondein Boondein Boondein Barase Hain Rut Saawan Ki Dekho Aayee'. 

Next came Jaijaiwanti, beginning with Apte's 'Kaare Badra Bairi Aaye', followed by her own 'Khile Phool Khili Kaliyaan Dekho Ji, Ghar Aangan Ko Mehkaaye'. Ronkini announced that she was singing the raag for the first time in concert, but she was comfortable with the nuances.

Her recital concluded with the Kedar bandish 'Sab Guni Aaye More Mandarwa', where she again displayed fluency in her rendition. An interesting thing about her choice was the mix of traditional compositions with her own material, where she used contemporary Hindi.

The next performance, by Ramkumar Mishra, was an equal delight. The tabla player has a rich background, being the grandson of great tabla maestro Pt Anokhelal Mishra and son of vocalist Chhanulal Mishra. Interestingly, he was initiated into tabla playing by his mother Manorama Mishra, daughter of Anokhelal Mishra, and was trained further by his uncle Chhotelal Mishra.

Though he represents the Benaras gharana, he picked up nuances of other styles, even receiving guidance for four years from Ustad Allarakha during his stint in Mumbai. "Jasraj.Ji and Pt Shivkumar Sharma used to tell me that as an accompanist, one should be open to all gharanas," he said.

At Monday's concert, however, he chose to play intricacies from the Benaras style, like uthaan, paraal, aamad and chalan in teen taal. Other highlights included the presentation of Ganesh Vandana set to tabla, replication of sounds heard at the Vishwanath temple in Benaras and Anokhelal Mishra's speciality of 'ek ungli ka na dhin dhin na'. Ajay Joglekar provided lehra accompaniment on harmonium.

The audience included Pancham Nishad's Shashi Vyas, santoor maestro Pt Satish Vyas, vocalists Rattan Mohan Sharma and Sanjeev Chimmalgi, and tabla exponent Ojas Adhiya. Along with the others in the small gathering, they had a taste of some fabulous performances.