Discovering the Urdu connection

Though we may be living fast-paced lives in the time of technology and electronic music, one cannot completely turn a blind eye to the rich literary history that India has been gifted with. To remind us of our roots and present the beautiful melodic language of Urdu to those who are only aware of its Bollywoodised form, theatre director Om Bhutkar curated Sukhan, an evening of Urdu poetry and music. The first instalment of the programme took place on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s birthday — October 13 in the year 2015. It was organised in the living room of one of Om’s friends. Today, after countless shows in his hometown of Pune, the show comes to Mumbai and will be performed at the Cuckoo Club.

“A few years ago, I was writing a play on the life of Mirza Ghalib, and I fell in love with Urdu. My friend and associate Nachiket Devasthali and I bonded over the language and we both wanted to do some sort of programme around it,” he reminisces, adding that it was after months of coming up with a framework for the show and compiling ghazals and nasms for readings that a concert was finally staged.

Though the template—with a ghazal song to open the set and then intermittent sher-o-shairi, qawwali and sufi music, and dastangoi or storytelling—remains mostly the same, the songs and the shairis themselves are changed from time to time to keep things fresh.

“We have a lot of repeat audience because we keep changing up our lineup and they get to hear something new every time,” says Om, adding that they keep the popular numbers the same so as to cater to the audience’s preferences.

Sher-o-shairi being read during Sukhan

For lead singer of the troop, Jaydeep Vidya, the love for qawwali songs and ghazals dates all the way back to his childhood. “I am a classically trained singer and come from a musical family. So, I was exposed to this kind of music right from my childhood. Ghazals were my favourites and my parents taught me the genre along with pure classical singing,” he recalls, adding that he taught himself qawwali singing once he was a bit older.

Jaydeep’s association with Om dates back to when he composed the music for the former’s play on Ghalib. “It was one of the main reasons that I jumped onboard when I learned about Sukhan —because I knew Om and knew his love for poetry,” he states.

Indeed, this innate love for all things Urdu is evident in the Sukhan director and declamation artiste, when he speaks about how everyone can relate to the sher-o-shairi. “Whether we are aware of it or not, we all know Urdu through whatever Bollywood movies we watch. To listen to the language in its purest form is something that pulls us in because it is a part of us,” he concludes.

Sukhan will take place today, 6 pm onwards, at The Cuckoo Club, 5AA Pali Hill, Macronells Compund, Bandra (W).