Balgandharva and Marathi Natyasangeet
Ajay P Nerurkar
Here is an article of a discursive nature -- a collection of facts and
opinions as they occurred to me -- inspired by RMIM's recent foray into
Marathi music under the leadership of Abhayrao Avachat.
Ajay
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Marathi musical theatre as we know it today (or knew it some decades ago)
came into existence towards the end of the 19th century. It was in the
1880s, that Annasaheb Kirloskar wrote "Shaakuntal" an adaptation
of Kalidas' classic Sanskrit work and this is where it all began. A few
years later he was to exercise his talents again and give us "Saubhadra"
one of the three all-time great musicals of the Marathi stage, the other two
being Swayamvar and Maanaapmaan. He also set up the Kirloskar Naatak Mandali,
an itinerant company of performers, to stage his plays. More great dramatists
were to follow. Govind Ballal Deval wrote "Saunshaykallol" (adapted from
Moliere, I think) a sophisticated musical comedy and "Sharada" a trenchant
commentary on the practice of some among the senior citizenry to take wives
a fourth their age.
But it was Krishnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar who was responsible for gifting us
with "Swayamvar" and "Maanaapmaan" (and also "Vidyaharan"). Not much can be
said about the music of these two plays without resorting to extravagant `
language. Songs like "Mama aatma gamala", "Naath ha maazha", "Naravar
Krishnasamaan", (all Swayamvar) and "Chandrika hee zanu", "Ya nava naval
nayanotsava", "Ravi mee" (all Maanaapmaan) are in many minds the very
definition of Marathi Natyasangeet.
One name that is almost as big as the tradition itself is that of
Narayanrao Rajhauns (named Balgandharva by Lokmanya Tilak). He started out
with the Kirloskar NM playing female parts like that of Shankutala but then
set up his own company -- Gandharva Natak Mandali. He engaged Bhaskarbuwa
Bakhale to give music and the tunes he gave remain essentially unchanged to
this day. (I'm pretty sure he tuned Swayamvar and Saunshaykallol but it was
probably Govindrao Tembe who set Maanaapmaan to music, clarifications invited)
Since Pt. Bakhale was a classical vocalist of some repute the tunes were very
close in spirit to classical music (more so, I might add, than a randomly
picked classical-based Hindi (or is it Urdu ?) film song). But the music was
subject to interpretation -- Balgandharva was adept at sprinkling his rendition
of "Svakula taarak suta" (Swayamvar) with Teevra Ma, a note verboten in
Bhimpalas.
The part of Rukmini in Swayamvar soon became Balgandharva's signature mainly
because of the cavalcade of melodious songs this character has. Balgandharva
is mainly rememebered for the female roles he essayed and I suspect this is
partly the reason why the main female character in Swayamvar has such a
disproportionately large share of songs. His attention to detail was
phenomenal as his company strived to reproduce as closely as possible the
grandeur of a palace on stage or the costly clothes and ornaments of
royalty. Not only was he a fine actor, blessed with good looks and an
extremely attractive voice, what he wore on stage set the standards for
female fashion in those days. He ruled almost till his dying minute and
towards the end performed whole plays from a sitting position but not many
in the audience noticed this inconsequential detail. For those unfamiliar
in these matters it might appear entirely ridiculous that people repeatedly
paid to watch the same plays over and over again and then once more. But they
did so not with the expectation of any new twists in the plot but for the songs
-- the Natyasangeet.
These songs that were supposedly meant to be subservient to the plot instead
leapt out of the confines of the theatre. Singers with no histrionic
connection to the stage have rendered them as well. Notable among these :
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan : Somebody mentioned his name but I have heard only
"Prem seva sharaN" and "Chandrika hee zaNu" (both Maanaapmaan). Are there any
others ?
Kumar Gandharva : A couple of LPs by him titled "Malaa umazlele Balgandharva"
(B. as I understood him) became huge hits. Even with a powerful, roaring
voice his versions are masterpieces.
Asha Bhosle : Flattered her father by imitating him but did a commendable job
of it.
Coming back to Balgandharva and Swayamvar, it is said that one day there
happened to be in the audience a person by the name of Ram Ganesh Gadkari
-- generally considered to be the greatest of these dramatists. After
taking in the visual and aural treat the performance must've been, in a
conversation backstage with Balgandharva he vowed that he would cast him
in a new light, quite unfamiliar to the world. He knew what he was talking
about. He was talking about his masterpiece "Ekach Pyaalaa" that had
Balgandharva playing the role of the distressed wife of an alcoholic. There
was no place here for either regal sets or expensive jewellery. This role of
Sindhu became another jewel in Balgandharva's already weighty crown. The music
is smashing as usual but the overall effect is dark and depressing.
It is a matter of some regret that Balgandharva was forced into debt in his
later years by waning public interest in these plays and his firm refusal to
compromise on any aspect of presentation. Somehow it has been downhill for the
Sangeet Natak ever since. Musicians like Jitendra Abhisheki and Ram Marathe
tried to revive its fortunes by collaborating with modern dramatists but it
was a short-lived renaissance. Now there is only silence.
Aruna Donde
In article <59fa9q$4...@prometheus.acsu.buffalo.edu>, a...@cs.buffalo.edu
(Ajay P Nerurkar) wrote:
>
> One name that is almost as big as the tradition itself is that of
> Narayanrao Rajhauns (named Balgandharva by Lokmanya Tilak). He started out
> with the Kirloskar NM playing female parts like that of Shankutala but then
> set up his own company -- Gandharva Natak Mandali. He engaged Bhaskarbuwa
> Bakhale to give music and the tunes he gave remain essentially unchanged to
> this day. (I'm pretty sure he tuned Swayamvar and Saunshaykallol but it was
> probably Govindrao Tembe who set Maanaapmaan to music, clarifications
invited)
> Since Pt. Bakhale was a classical vocalist of some repute the tunes were very
> close in spirit to classical music (more so, I might add, than a randomly
> picked classical-based Hindi (or is it Urdu ?) film song). But the music was
> subject to interpretation -- Balgandharva was adept at sprinkling his
>rendition
> of "Svakula taarak suta" (Swayamvar) with Teevra Ma, a note verboten in
> Bhimpalas.
Pt. Bhaskarboova Bakhale was the guru of both BalGandharva and Master Krishna.
He molded the two of them in different fashion, to suit the work they were
destined for. Balgandharva was molded for NatyaGeet and Master Krishna
for mehifil Gayaki. The very Bhimpalas you mentioned, was taught to
BhaskarBoova by his guru, Alladiya Khansaheb.
In 1983, a two cassette tapes (V1 and V2) named 'Marathi Naatya
Sangeetachi Vatchal' was released , in which VasantRao Deshpande presented
the history of Natyasangeet beginning with Kirloskar - Shakuntal,
Saubhadra and ending with Khadilkar - DinaNath Gayaki and Gandharva
Parampara . Vasantrao, as usual, is in top form and his description of
why's and the how's of this parampara are awsome. This is a must hear for
any Marathi Natya Sangeet lover.
BhaskarBoova Bakhale's great-grand-daughter-in-law (if such a term
exists), Shaila Datar has published a book in 1995, named 'Dev Gandharva'
as a homage to him. Also, on the must read list is a book by Shree
RamKrishna Baakre named 'Bujurg'. These books contain the Natya and
Shastriya Sangeet's history and the giants who nurtured it. Many others,
by Vamanrao Deshpande, Pu La and Gajananrao Joshi are alo well worth
reading.
> Asha Bhosle : Flattered her father by imitating him but did a commendable job
> of it.
A lot of the DinaNath gayaki was coached to Asha by Vasantrao, since he
was the only one left who could actually do so. DinaNath treated
Vasantrao as a shishya and a son and freely taught his 'aakramak' gayaki
to him.
A little piece of trivia for RMIM readers. Vasantrao Deshpande and
Ramchandra Chittalkar (Deshpandyancha Vasanta ani Chittalkarancha Ram)
were gurubandhu when they began learning their sa,re,ga,ma from Sapre
Guruji in Nagpur. Two brilliant gems, came from the same mine.
Aruna.
Abhay Avachat
Thanks a lot to Ajay N for his excellent write-up on the legend called
"Baal-gandharva" and to Aruna for the superb follow-up. Great info and
smooth writing. Compliments to both of you !
Nothing much to add from my side. Just a tit-bit piece of info.
Ajay, could you also say something about the available recordings of this
amazing singer ? From what I know, very little of his singing exists in
recordings. Those too were made when he was past his prime. Is this right ?
I have a 4-pack of Natysangeet, which has __original__ songs by many,
including BaalG and Deenanath among others. But these are very few.
Also I am looking forward to your next write-up on Deenanath :-)
Please do it for RMIM.
In article <aruna_donde-23...@ccp-2n-13-2.mrg.uswest.com>, aruna...@msmgate.mrg.uswest.com says...
>
>In article <59fa9q$4...@prometheus.acsu.buffalo.edu>, a...@cs.buffalo.edu
>(Ajay P Nerurkar) wrote:
<deleted>
>BhaskarBoova Bakhale's great-grand-daughter-in-law (if such a term
>exists), Shaila Datar has published a book in 1995, named 'Dev Gandharva'
>as a homage to him.
She also conducts a stage-program with the same title. It's a season of
India trips. Those who are going to Mumbai-Pune may like to check this
program out. I missed it. But the report is good.
>A little piece of trivia for RMIM readers. Vasantrao Deshpande and
>Ramchandra Chittalkar (Deshpandyancha Vasanta ani Chittalkarancha Ram)
>were gurubandhu when they began learning their sa,re,ga,ma from Sapre
>Guruji in Nagpur. Two brilliant gems, came from the same mine.
Wow ! Thanks for reminding about this particular trivia. I wish I was born
at that time at that place. Now India seems to have exhausted it's quota of
musical legends.
- Abhay.
Thanks to both of you !
Ajay P Nerurkar
Abhay Avachat (ab...@infogain.com) wrote:
: Ajay, could you also say something about the available recordings of this
: amazing singer ? From what I know, very little of his singing exists in
: recordings. Those too were made when he was past his prime. Is this right ?
There is atleast one LP (probably now available in cassette form) that itself
is a compilation of old 78s. This has some 10 songs, each lasting not more
than 4 minutes. Haven't heard it in a while but do remember enough to say that
BalG. is in top form here.
: I have a 4-pack of Natysangeet, which has __original__ songs by many,
: including BaalG and Deenanath among others. But these are very few.
Are you referring to the newly released "Shaakuntal te Kulavadhu" ?
Ajay