ON Stagemarch 2017

volume 6 • issue 8

BIHU GEET THE SOUL OF ASSAM

VANRAJ BHATIA Tribute concert

KUMUDINI LAKHIA

Here with Kadamb

Contents14

Features

08Reflections On the Symphony Orchestra of India’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème. By Anil Dharker

10 The Two MaestrosPhilip Glass and John Adams are two composers who haven’t shied away from dealing with big subjects in their operas.By Ashutosh Khandekar

14The Sound of Bihu Bihu geet is the soul of Assamese culture.By Bhaskar Choudhury

18A Maestro Never RetiresShyam Benegal’s composer for most of his films, Vanraj Bhatia’s music has the unusual quality of being both loved and ignored at the same time. By Vipasha Aloukik Pai

NCPA ChairmanKhushroo N. Suntook

Executive Director & Council MemberDeepak Bajaj

Editorial DirectorRadhakrishnan Nair

Editor-in-Chief

Oishani Mitra

Consulting EditorEkta Mohta

Editorial Co-ordinatorHilda Darukhanawalla

Deputy Art DirectorsHemali Limbachiya

Tanvi Shah

Graphic DesignerVidhi Doshi

AdvertisingAnita Maria Pancras

(advertising@ncpamumbai.com; 66223820) Tulsi Bavishi

(tulsi@mansworldindia.com; 9833116584)

Digital ArtistJayesh V. Salvi

Cover CreditAlamy

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2220Time for Brahms Gauthier Herrmann talks to ON Stage about the 19th edition of the Artie’s Festival India

22The Legacy of Kumudini LakhiaKathak legend Kumudini Lakhia didn’t just break the rules in dance and choreography – she brought the same rebellious spirit to her role as teacher as well. By Rajita Gadagkar

27Playing it the Baroque WayYale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415, both from the respective famous schools, are two of the biggest contributors to musical life in New York. This month, they are here at the NCPA. By Nikhil Sardana

30The Interviews Robert Ames and Galya Bisengalieva

34The Myth BusterThe NCPA’s next production with Faezeh Jalali takes the

character of Shikhandi from the Mahabharata to start a conversation on gender confusion, gender politics and gender equality. By Rinky Kumar

36The First ImpressionClaude Monet’s obsession with nature and light birthed a modern art movement. By Bhargav Prasad

40On an Operatic NoteThe Symphony Orchestra of India’s production of La Bohème trod the fine line between tradition and innovation

44Mohiniattam – A PerspectiveK. N. Panikkar explains why Mohiniattam’s allegiance to regional art forms cannot be overlooked

46Programme GuideAll of March’s events at the NCPA

57What’s NextWhat to look forward to in the coming months

We look forward to your feedback and suggestions. Please do drop us an email at onstage@ncpamumbai.com.

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Bihu geet is the soul of Assamese culture. By Bhaskar ChoudhuryThe Sound of Bihu

PRIMER

The festival and celebrations of Bihu are an integral part

of Assamese culture

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Assam is the heart of the North-eastern region of our country, and is known for its scenic beauty with serene valleys and green hills. The inhabitants of the

region belong to various ethnic groups with different traditions and cultures. The music field of the land blooms with the contribution of each and every ethnic group of the region. The region is rich with different indigenous folk music, which also influences the modern music industry tremendously.

Bihu is the main festival of Assam, which is celebrated widely by the whole Assamese community. There are three Bihus that are celebrated at different times of the year depending upon the crop cycle, as the traditional Assamese society is predominantly agricultural. The names of the three Bihus are Bohag or Rongali Bihu, Magh or Bhogali Bihu and Kati or Kongali Bihu. Among the three, Bohag Bihu is the most celebrated. The folk songs associated with Bohag Bihu are known as Bihu geets. But, nowadays Bihu geets are not restricted to Bohag Bihu, but have become a part of each and every celebration and most of the social affairs of Assamese people. The second

day of Bohag Bihu is known as Manuh Bihu. On that day, the village youth go door-to-door and perform Bihu geet and dance to pray for the well-being of the families.

Bihu geet is one of the oldest versions of Assamese folk music. The period of origin of Bihu geets is unclear, but we can find evidence of Bihu geet before Assamese literature was in manuscript form. In the 15th century, Vaishnavism emerged strongly in Assamese society by the patronage of Sankardev and Madhavdev and their disciples. During this period, the whole of Assamese culture was co-opted and most of the literature, including songs and poetry, became devoted to the worshipping of god. Words such as ‘Ram’, ‘Govindo’, ‘Govindai Ram’, etc. were

absorbed in Bihu geets and became an integral part of it. There isn’t any doubt that Vaishnavism covered most of the cultural and socio-economic activities of that era but Bihu geets and Bihu dance were so deeply engraved in the Assamese community that Vaishnavism was not successful in rooting them out. Bihu geets were also indomitable to the advent of Western culture under the British.

THE STRUCTURE OF BIHU Folk music is a vital part of the culture of any community. It describes the traditions, lifestyle, history and mythology of the community; Bihu geets are no different. The stories in Bihu geets range from natural beauty to a lover’s expression, from social awareness to humorous

anecdotes. Bihu geets symbolise the colourful and rich culture of Assamese people. They contain simple beautiful melodies and rhythms that are generally concerned with the themes of nature, love, interpersonal relationships, religious and cultural festivities and customs. Normally, Bihu dance is performed by a group of young boys and girls on the rhythm of Bihu geets. If the Bihu geet/dance is performed by a group of boys and girls together, it is known as Husori. If it is performed only by a group of women, it is known as Jeng Bihu.

THE HISTORYDuring the reign of the Ahom dynasty, the celebration of Bihu was shifted to courtyards. Bihu geets and dances received royal patronage by Ahom kings. The same practice of performing Bihu geet and dance slowly shifted to the stages of towns and cities. This is the modern era of Bihu geet. Nowadays, singers try to do a fusion of Bihu geet with other folk songs, but experiments such as these should not deteriorate the essence of Bihu geet. Bihu geets are the heartbeat of Assamese people as it reflects their hopes, emotions and expectations. Bihu

geets are so integral that we can’t even think about Assamese literature, culture, customs and traditions without including Bihu geets.

THE INSTRUMENTS Some unique and special musical instruments  have been used  in Bihu geets, such as dhol, pepa, gogona, tal, toka, xutuli, banhi (flute), etc. Dhol is the most important and crucial instrument for performing Bihu geet. When we talk about Bihu geet, we must remember the dhol player Somnath Bora Oja, who contributed significantly to the field of Bihu geet. Gogona  is made from a thick bamboo outer, split in such a way that one end forms the handle while the other end can be struck by fingers when

the instrument is held against the mouth for playing. Basically, the principle of gogona is to vibrate the bamboo pieces by which it is made to produce sounds of different pitches.  Pepa is an instrument made of buffalo horn. It is normally played by a young man known as pepuwa. Toka is an easily available bamboo slap stick used in Bihu geet for producing a sound similar to clapping.

There are many great contributors to Bihu geet, such as Khagen Mahanta and his wife Archana Mahanta. They have broadened the horizon of Bihu geet with their great contributions and set a platform for newcomers such as Khagen Gogoi, Zubeen Garg, Angaraag Mahanta (Papon), Manash Robin, Barnali Kalita, Biman Barua, Krishnamoni Nath, Nirmali Das, Vitali Das, etc. In this regard, we must also mention the great contribution of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika when it came to describing Bihu and Bihu geets in his music. It is through the lilting quality of his music that one truly understands how Bihu geets are considered to be the very essence of Assamese culture.  

Living Traditions: Festival of Assam will take place on 18th and 19th March.

Bihu geets contain simple beautiful melodies and rhythms that are generally concerned

with the themes of nature, love, interpersonal relationships, religious and cultural festivities

and customs

Bihu geets are the heartbeat of Assamese

people as it reflects their hopes, emotions

and expectations

NCPA March 2017 • 17

Dohar is a group of folk musicians that will be performing Bihu geets at the NCPA this month

Assamese singer Joi Barua

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Mohiniattam is facing a difficult situation in Kerala owing to many reasons. There are different schools; each one, in effect, either is closer to Bharatanatyam or to Kathakali. One result is that this art form does not have the self-generative force to strike an individuality that it legitimately should possess. Affinity to Bharatanatyam is totally irrelevant and unscientific whereas nearness to Kathakali can be justified, to some extent, because of the common basis on which both these arts have grown. It is quite unfortunate that the regional music of Kerala has been neglected all these years, with the result

that Mohiniattam has been depending solely on the Carnatic style of music. The gamakas, emphasised in the sopanam style of music, and its rhythmic patterns should form part and parcel of this art form. We find instead that nowadays even Kathakali music is being corrupted by a slow drift away from tradition.

My approach to this style of dance is generally based on an aesthetic point of view, taking into consideration certain distinctive regional and local characteristics of allied art forms, having unmistakeable links with its kinetic, structural, rhythmic, musical and instrumental aspects.

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDDuring the second Chera dynasty, in the 9th or 10th century, there was a revival of Sanskrit theatre, as also of dance. The dancing girls, known as kuthachis, were held in high esteem in society. Thevitichis and kuthachis belonged to two different categories by virtue of their work in the temple. Thevitichis or theavaradiyars were engaged in relatively menial work while the kuthachis were the official temple dancers. In Chera country, the inferior dancers of the devadasi variety were never allowed to hold an equal position with the kuthachis in the official dance rituals of the temple. In the Pandyan temples, including those at Suchindram and Kanyakumari, theavaradiyars held a more important position. The kuthachi Nangyars were the custodians of a highly developed dance called nangyarkuttu, considered as the accepted women’s dance form. They came into prominence in temples (like Kandiyur) during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Even now certain Nangyar families continue to enjoy the right of conducting kuttu as a ritual in temples such as Ambalapuzha.

SYNTHESIS OF THE TWOThe present repertoire of Mohiniattam became imbued with Bharatanatyam elements only during Svati Tirunal’s time. The result was that the art had to combine, in its basic movement patterns, many elements unknown to it till that time. The introduction of varnam, thillana, jatiswaram and javali in Mohiniattam was an experiment conducted by the Bharatanatyam nattuvanars. These musical compositions belonged to a totally different discipline. Now we find that saptam is also introduced, though its relevance in the context of Mohiniattam is doubtful.

We are not in a position to define precisely what were the items included in its traditional repertoire but we did find certain useful references in the Thullalkritis of Kunchan Nambiyar like Chinthu, Ammanattam, etc. In

Mohiniattam – A perspectiveON Stage brings you excerpts from the NCPA Quarterly Journal, an unsurpassed literary archive that ran from 1972 to 1988 and featured authoritative and wide-ranging articles. K. N. Panikkar explains why Mohiniattam’s allegiance to regional art forms cannot be overlooked

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any case, merely knowing the names of items cannot really help us. Details about the musical and dance structure are more important in building up and enriching the art. The art of thullal and thullal literature provide us ample clues in regard to the many technical aspects, especially the tala system and dance movements. Thullal itself had borrowed many folk elements mainly from patayani and given them a classical sophistication. The mukkanni movements of the footwork, for instance, in the Ganapati – Pativattam in thullal clearly show its indebtedness to the patayani dance. Thus the charis of many dance forms have common links. Mohiniattam’s allegiance to regional art forms, therefore, cannot be overlooked.

However, when the purity of any deshi style is tampered with, it is possible to discover the missing links by probing into the traditional arts of the region. In the case of Mohiniattam, what we learn from the priceless treasure of thullal and other allied arts provides good material for research. We also find that a number of old musical and dance forms, descended from antique origin, have common features. The same or similar tala svaroopas (rhythm structures) can be seen in the Gandharva songs of Kaniyan (the village astrologer), the sorcery songs of Velan, the thuyilunarthu songs of Panan (the harbinger of the new

year) and so on. The spirit of all these can be felt in the art of thullal.

THE RHYTHM SYSTEM The rhythm system of Kerala forms may be explained thus. There are seven major talas: Ekachuzhadi (with seven varieties), Dhruvachuzhadi (with seven), Chaturashrayam (with five), Kumbhom (with five), Shodasam (with 16), Shripathi (with seven), and Chachaputam (with 108) – thus making a total of 155. The basic fact is that all the talas work as hridayatalas or the rhythm of the heart. One more point to be noted is that the fingering system denoting the jatis is not followed in the Kerala tala systems;

instead, each tala is built up as a tala svaroopa or total rhythmic form.

With regard to the melody aspect, there is a simple treatment of melody in the sopanam style. This system had developed from the style of chanting of the Veda mantras of the region and many other articulations in the different folk forms, with an essentially ritualistic base. ‘Othu Pizhachu Kuttyai’ is an old saying perhaps coined by the Namboothiris. It means ‘Veda chanting went wrong because of dramatic articulation.’

This article first appeared in the NCPA Quarterly Journal in September 1985 (Vol. XIV, No. 3).

NCPA March 2017 • 45

Mohiniattam dancer Mandakini Trivedi

The introduction of varnam,

thillana, jatiswaram

and javali in Mohiniattam was

an experiment conducted by the Bharatanatyam

nattuvanars

Mohiniattam dancer Sujatha Nair with her troupe