Bansuri Jab Gaane Lage is novel and sublime ode to a giant flautist

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An extraordinary artiste needs an extraordinary presentation for his life-story. Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia has no equal in the field of flute virtuosos and it is not for nothing that he has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan all of 25 years ago.

His son, Rajeev Chaurasia, had directed a documentary named Bansuri Guru in 2013. This time, his life is presented with a magical look at his music and persona. Let us not forget that, for besides his stature as a classical musician, who took the simple flute towards global acclaim, he was also a popular player in cinema (and many live shows), a non-film classical composer and in movies (earlier in Oriyan cinema alone), a part of an illustrious music duo that enriched Hindi cinema with outstanding musicals like Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe and Sahibaan between 1981 and 1993: Shiv-Hari.

So, this time, Brindavan Gurukul, the music institute that his wife, Anuradha, and he jointly run, and Eastern Harmony, have conceptualized the most exciting and ingenious tribute—a two-hour musical presentation titled Bansuri Jab Gaane Lage (When the flute begins to sing) on Panditji’s life, classical music and film innings.

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His friendship with the late Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and their emotional relationship is given due attention and importance, as is his heartwarming bond with Lata Mangeshkar.

There are various different and refreshingly outre and original strokes used to narrate this succinct but scintillating saga. Five women played key parts in this wunderkind’s life: his mother, who died when Panditji was only six, a neighboring aunt who gave him motherly affection and was also the wife of his first music guru, his sister who loaded him with affection, his loving and ever-supportive wife Anuradha, and finally the guru he approached when he was already successful on radio and in movies—Annapurna Devi, to learn classical music as a beginner (at 25-plus!). On this show, all these roles are essayed expertly by Reshma Shetty, who also plays an additional role of a dancer (which she is in real life too) for whose performance Pt. Hariprasad also played the flute when he was young.

The most ingenious aspect here is the use of a brilliant actor, Vikas Rawat, playing—not the flute maestro—but his instrument. The bansuri thus takes on the mantle of the candid narrator and his story of how he was first discovered (through a wandering flautist) and even stolen by the legend makes for great listening indeed! Vikas also comes in as Raj Kapoor (who had once called Anuradha Chaurasia) and imitates the voice of Yash Chopra as well as Amitabh Bachchan in the song Rang barse from Shiv-Hari’s debut film, Silsila (1981, erroneously mentioned in the play as 1982).

Pt. Hariprasad’s life took many twists and turns. Born in a wrestler’s family (his father was very strict and wanted his son to follow suit), he first secretly learnt music and his instrument and soon, his life took him to Cuttack’s All-India Radio. From there to Mumbai’s All-India Radio and thereon to become one of the most unavoidable musicians for all top composers in Mumbai and remain so for decades is a story that must be experienced rather than narrated in this review with all its triumphs and humor.

The third stroke that scores high is the use of 20 popular film songs with apt-for-his-life lyrics, presented live by singers Pritha Mazumdar (of Mohabbatein fame) and Srikant Narayan (the popular voice of Rafi et al in stage shows) with great skill. These songs ably help demonstrate the highs and lows of Panditji’s life, love and career. Is it a coincidence, I wonder, that nine of the 20 tracks here are written by Anand Bakshi, who wrote lyrics for five of the composer’s eight films and was to do a film that never took off—B.R. Chopra’s Kabhi To Milenge?

The outstanding melodies presented included Phir wohi shaam, the Madan Mohan-composed classic from Jahan Ara (1964), the prodigy’s first-ever film song, to lovelies like Jo waada kiya woh nibhana padega (Taj Mahal), Mere pee ko pawan (Ghulami) and many more, here Panditji played under the batons of all the top composers.

(Panditji’s disciples Suchismita Chatterjee perform the bansuri live here, and Deepak Shah is on keyboards. Viraj Bhatia is on tabla and dholak. The guitar isplayed by Gautam Biswas.)

What is particularly interesting is that, through this format, the genius’ emotions patently comes out along with his ever-humorous demeanor and dogged determination to excel. A unique insight, of which I was not aware at all, is of a special award by Filmfare magazine for the whizkid’s work in Milan (1967), Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s award-winning musical: something unprecedented in film awards history! Another one is a lovely tidbit of Sanjeev Kumar’s admiration for Panditji.

The crowning glory of the show, however, is the surreal presentation of Panditji’s mother near the climax, speaking with pride as she watches (from above) her son’s progress and evolution. The emotional voltage of this imaginative sequence is massive, and proves the high-point of the absolutely masterful script (Suhail Abbasi with Pushpanjali Chaurasia, Pandit-ji’s daughter-in-law).

Directors Bhushan Korgaonkar and Kunal Vijayakar keep a tight grip on this wonderful replay of a titanic artist’s saga. After the stage adaptation of Mughal-E-Azam, this is the second landmark music-based stage presentation that merits a minimum one experience. And apart from the entire team on stage and behind, the single soul responsible for this triumph is the titan being celebrated—Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia himself.

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