Purbayan Chatterjee says Bollywood music still draws inspiration from classical music

Sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee is set to perform in Pune alongside Padmashri Vijay Ghate who would accompany him on tabla. “Pune is one of the city’s in India which is considered a place of pilgrimage for Indian classical musicians,” states Chaterjee, adding how exciting and daunting it is to perform in the city. The musician is doing a solo concert in the city after a long time. “What is the most amazing thing about Pune is that perhaps every Rasika who is sitting in the audience is aware about the structure of the raga, tala, et cetera. For me the most exciting thing from the time when I played in Sawai Gandharva Festival, for the first time, has been the warmth with which the audience receives every little minute of your playing. That drives you to bring out facets of your playing, which often get lost, otherwise,” he mentions.

His jugalbandi with Ghate is one of the highlights of the event, which will take place tomorrow at Zapurza Museum of Art and Culture, Pune. “The most amazing thing about performing with Vijay ji is that things are always completely at the moment. I feel free to express myself with the greatest spontaneity. I am also planning to showcase a couple of rare bandishs in ragas that are perhaps a little less often heard,” he elaborates.

Chatterjee, who hails from Kolkata has been doing music since he was six. “Music has been an integral part of my life ever since I was a child,” he says. The pandemic left him quarantined in his house, just like others. “Only then I realised the value of expressing myself musically. Music is almost a defining factor of my existence,” he mentions.

The musician has been a recipient of the President of India Award for being the Best Instrumentalist of the country at the age of 15, along with several other notable awards. He admits recognition does bring a sense of accomplishment. “The journey of a musician is always a long and arduous one, full of ups and downs. One looks forward to recognition, and therefore, accolades

do certainly bring a sense of accomplishment and encourage want to work harder. However, that being said, as you grow in years, you begin to grow more and more detached to results, and more focused on the journey itself. Personally, I feel the failure is what makes you, and the success is just incidental,” he elaborates.

With the westernisation at its peak in the music scenario letting several musicians complain about us losing touch with our culture, Chatterjee believes otherwise. “I strongly feel with each passing day that music is an emotional response to sound whether it is Indian or western or from any other part of the world. It is great that there are various forms of music which are slowly penetrating into our country and our culture. Our classical music is a tradition that is thousands of years old, and I truly feel that nothing can ever take it away from our people. It is extremely heartening to see that mainstream Bollywood films, still draw their repository from the building blocks of classical music. Sargam, padhanth etc, were used in a very international melting pot to create sounds that or new an appeal to a global audience. I do not see anything wrong with that at all,” he explains.