Shraddhanjali to Anil-da : Bangalore : 31st May

Chetan Vinchhi

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May 29, 2006, 1:10:32 PM5/29/06

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Hi,

There is a program to observe the 2nd death anniversary of the maestro.
It will feature music created by him for films and dance productions
(including The Vision of Amir Khusrau, Hoysala Vaibhava, Surdas).
Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography (headed by Maya Rao)
will present excerpts of these ballets.

The details are as follows:

31st May, 2006 at 6:30pm.
Venue: Yavanika, Nrpathunga Road (near RBI), Bangalore

For details please contact the Natya Institute: +91-80-2334-8645

Chetan Vinchhi

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Jun 4, 2006, 10:28:30 AM6/4/06

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It was a very nice program, shedding light on a little-known aspect of
Anil-da's personality. Shri Chiranjeevi Singh (who helped coordinate
the program and gave the opening address) and Dr.Maya Rao (who
spearheaded the effort) emphasized that while everyone talks about
his contribution to music, nobody mentions his contribution to the
dance drama form.

There were recollections of many touching moments in the various
speeches. When Dr.Maya Rao wanted to work with Anil-da on the
various dance productions, he would always pretend to be sick or
busy or something. On being pressed, he would agree to listen to
the saahitya. As soon as the first words or poetry were heard, he
would ejaculate - a saara.ngii here, a flute there! The whole
composition would take shape in the course of the sitting! In the
case of the "archanaa" (from Surdas) the mukhaDaa was composed
in the blink of an eye. This troupe danced to this lovely composition
recorded in Anil-da's own voice. Mr Singh recollected how they
had invited Anil-da and Meena-ji to Bangalore (some time in the
80s). A fabulous banquet was thrown in his honour in the Vidhan
Soudha and Anil-da maintained it was the grandest function of
his life.

Noted music critic and historian Shri V A K Ranga Rao had travelled
all the way from Chennai and he shared from his treasure trove of
information and insights about Anil-da's music.

The various dance numbers were extremely appealing, both visually
and musically. The choreography and the music complemented
each other beautifully, from the poignant undercurrents in the Amir
Khusrau pieces, to the contrast between viir-rasa and shrungaar
in Hoysala Vaibhava. The opening item and the last piece (a "raas")
were from Surdas and were very lovingly composed. The only item
that was not from a ballet was "naa dir dim taanaa derena" from
Pardesi. (Actually, the dance seemed to be very Bharatnatyam-ish
as opposed to the strong Kathak influence in the other choreography.
I haven't seen the movie so I am not sure if this thillana is performed
like this in the movie!).

A local singer (Chandrika) and her troupe performed four of Anil-da's
film composition. The concluding piece "dhiire dhiire aa re baadal"
was received with a resounding round of applause and appreciated
by all.

Between the above tightly-scheduled performances, the lamp lighting
(graced by the Hon'ble governor or Karnataka Shri T.N.Chaturvedi)
and speeches two recordings were played. One was from a private
performance during a visit to India by Faiz-saab. Anil-da sang a
couple of ashaar the import of which was that after I go away my
voice will be forgotten. We know how untrue that prophecy is! The
full raagamaalika from Hamdard ("ritu aaye ritu jaaye", Lata and
Manna Dey) was played as a tribute to the maestro.

C

Sanjeev Ramabhadran

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Jun 4, 2006, 10:14:29 PM6/4/06

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Chetan,

Thanks for sharing this with us.

> There were recollections of many touching moments in the various
> speeches. When Dr.Maya Rao wanted to work with Anil-da on the
> various dance productions, he would always pretend to be sick or
> busy or something. On being pressed, he would agree to listen to
> the saahitya. As soon as the first words or poetry were heard, he
> would ejaculate - a saara.ngii here, a flute there! The whole

I know this is a legitimate usage of the word, but surely you could
have chosen another one...

Sanjeev

Sanjeev Ramabhadran

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Jun 4, 2006, 10:14:50 PM6/4/06

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Chetan,

Thanks for sharing this with us.

> There were recollections of many touching moments in the various

> speeches. When Dr.Maya Rao wanted to work with Anil-da on the
> various dance productions, he would always pretend to be sick or
> busy or something. On being pressed, he would agree to listen to
> the saahitya. As soon as the first words or poetry were heard, he
> would ejaculate - a saara.ngii here, a flute there! The whole

I know this is a legitimate usage of the word, but surely you could

Chetan Vinchhi

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Jun 5, 2006, 4:29:32 AM6/5/06

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Sanjeev Ramabhadran wrote:
>
> I know this is a legitimate usage of the word, but surely you could
> have chosen another one...

Yes, I should have used another word. Didn't think about it in that
sense!

C