He is called the bhajan samrat, the ghazal maestro and performs an incredible 12 concerts every month, traveling around the world five, six times a year.
He accomplished in five years what took Elvis Presley 27, when in 1998 he surpassed Presley’s record of 45 gold and platinum discs with 58 discs of his own. What is innately attractive about Anup Jalota is his infectious smile; mischievous and impish, he has a great sense of humor and a persona utterly devoid of ego, as he happily irons his own clothes prior to his concert (“believe me – it’s very therapeutic to iron clothes”) and attempts to squat on the floor because a second chair was occupied during this exclusive interview with Kavita Chhibber.
Your father Purshottam Jalota is a renowned Bhajan exponent. How easy was it to learn from your own father, and were you a child prodigy?
It was not easy to learn from him in the sense that he was very strict and also I think he felt oh I am always here and Anup is always here, so I will sit and teach whenever convenient. He is a fantastic teacher and at any given time has around 300 students, but I don’t think he was teaching me enough. I also don’t think I was a child prodigy. I was taught to sing well and worked very hard, but I think somewhere within, the gift was always there. I had music in my blood. My mother was a very good Kathak dancer and I inherited the “lay” and “sur” from her as well, but initially all I had was this sense that I possess this gift and I need to nurture it. So I did, with a lot of hard work and first performed at the age of 7 before an audience of 10,000 people.
Then when you grew up you headed for Bombay and Bollywood.
Yes I completed my musical studies in Lucknow University. After that I started my singing career with Kishore Kumar, and also by singing film songs on stage in Lucknow for a mere Rs. 35 and in parties and was called the junior Kishore. I came to Bombay in 1974 and worked as a singer in the All India Radio Chorus Group for Rs 350 while giving private tuitions to survive. When I came to Bombay I was not at all known, while I was a very popular star in Lucknow and in my college. But the city of Bombay was already full of too many stars and stars in the making and I was nowhere!
I was a sportsman too and sportsmen believe in challenge and so I refused to give up. At that point I was 25 and it suddenly occurred to me that bhajan singing is a dry subject and very difficult to sing. In ghazal for instance, you just say a few couplets and people say wah wah, but in bhajan sometimes even when you sing well it has a limited audience. I felt that if I could sing bhajans and somehow give them a universal appeal I might be able to create a newer, younger audience. I did it and succeeded very quickly. In fact many film music directors were very annoyed with me, especially Lakshmikantji who would say I compose music for you and you never show up, because I would turn down offers to sing film songs. I did sing a few numbers but I loved singing on stage more and had to choose between the two. To this day I love to sing on stage and I do 12 shows a month.
So how has the rendition of bhajans and ghazals changed over the years? There is an allegation against Pankaj Udhas and you that both of you have diluted the classical, more traditional gayaki style of ghazal perfected by people like Begum Akhtar.
The lyrical content and quality has changed and lacks depth. When you don’t get lyrics with depth then you sing, may I say, lightly. I do make even my bhajans spicy and fun. I have tried to make bhajan singing more contemporary, giving it a fast and rhythmic style because people today want to dance with the bhajans and because of that the monotony associated with bhajans is a thing of the past.
At the same time bhajan singing is not just entertainment, it should inspire and uplift you as a human being when I sing and you listen to the works of great saints. Chadariya Jhini re Jhini for example is a bhajan that is always inspiring to sing and is the number 1 choice of audiences worldwide. This kind of song takes no time to create music for as well, because the lyrics are so beautiful. On the other hand a song like Chaiyyan Chaiyyan does not require deep lyrics, because Rahman created amazing music for it but then how long will you listen to it? It’s not going to be an all time classic like Chadariya, because the latter has vintage lyrics and music. Then today you have disco bhajans that are ruining the genre. I heard one bhajan mandir ke peechey kya hai, and another one Mata ka telephone aaya hai! Where is the question of inspiring devotion here? As for ghazal singing and the allegation against Pankaj and me, in truth ghazal has no style. If Begum Akhtar was the only perfect singer with the most perfect style then there would be no Mehdi Hasan, no Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh. Nowhere is it written in books that you have to sing a ghazal like this or that. In ghazal your focus is to present the lyrics of a poet musically, with feeling and depth and you can sing it any style.
I improvise and sing within the classical tradition. As long as you sing with feelings and depth you will always touch people’s hearts. Classical music is the base, but it’s not everything. Otherwise Pankaj Udhas will not be so popular. He sings with depth and simplicity. All the singers of today are different and loved by their admirers and may be that’s why I am also surviving. Everyone is not musically literate and besides, I feel that you can enjoy music most when you have not studied music. Otherwise you invariably become a critic. I have always strived to sing simply but also show my classical knowledge so someone who is well versed in classical music will know that I have a strong foundation rooted in classical music and will appreciate those touches and a novice will enjoy the pleasure of just listening to good music and I’m really happy that I end up giving pleasure to all kinds of audience and you know I have shared the stage with Pandit Jasraj, Hariprasad Chaurasia on the one hand and Usha Uthup on the other!
So how did it feel singing together on stage with people like Lata Mangeshkar, Ghulam Ali and other legends? How do you avoid the ego and one upman ship that comes into play often?
The singers you mentioned have tremendous differences in style. Lataji accomplishes in three minutes what we take about three hours to do. Ghulam Ali Sahib’s technique and the perfection of “swar” of Mehdi Hassan are incomparable. When I hear these great artists I feel I have a long way to go. I also feel that all of us have our own gifts and our own niche. If you love and respect the artists you perform with and give credit where it is due, there is no question of egos clashing. How has the audience changed over the years and where do you enjoy performing the most?
There is a big difference in the audience today. There are very few promoters like Yashpal Soi who are interested in trying to revive our rich classical and traditional music. Whoever is starting out is into pop music and Bollywood shows and they really have nothing to offer culturally today. When the younger generations hear that kind of music and watch these frivolous shows or the frivolous movies that are coming out they think this is what Indian culture must be. We are trying to revive the same tradition, which our elders propagated, and it its interesting that often I find the younger generation being surprised that we can create an entire orchestra with just three people. One good thing is there are two 24-hour TV channels in India now that are totally for devotional and classical music, but the other channels are spoiling the taste of our future generations.
As for performing, I love performing before an Indian audience in any city, because in India every listener is an appreciative audience, while here you only have one percent of the people as your audience. Maharashtra remains my favorite state, because of the knowledge and appreciation people have for vocalists though for instrumentalists I think Calcutta is the favorite and most popular city.
So are you saying you would never dabble in fusion music, as seems to be a trend these days?
I will definitely do Indi pop or fusion if there is depth in the lyrics and if it is tastefully done. I like what Hariharan has done so far for example. I believe once you are totally satisfied with your work and your achievements then you are open to experiments. Maybe I have achieved that satisfaction today and am open to doing some experiments. It is tough to bring out the best of both traditional and contemporary music without losing out on your basic foundation, but it can be done. Right now as a matter of fact I’m working on an album where I am singing Thumri and Khayal and the background music will be contemporary.
So when you look back, what are you most proud of and what more is left to achieve?
I was always laid back and content. If I sang one song well I would be thrilled that this is my piece of cake for today! I have recorded 200 albums and never imagined I would achieve the success I did. At that time I was only thinking that this is difficult music, but I enjoy singing it and I will survive. There is a lot left to create. I have sung the Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita and today I want to record the Vedas, which have no music so you have to chant without melody. I have met with many Vedic scholars and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as well, all of them have discouraged me. Doing Ramayana and Gita took a lot of research and each took three years to create. But I will be presenting the Vedas. I create a lot of my music when I am flying, because I travel a lot. I produced a movie Hum Diwane Pyar Ke, sang and composed music for it and I am producing another film. You live only once and I feel one should fulfill all of one’s desires. I also have my own music company where I want to nurture and give a break to singers who are committed to preserving good music.