An experiment in taking low notes to the extreme over swept cymbals and mesmeric bass in Sriram Raghavan’s neo noir venture, Badlapur, sent singer Rekha Bhardwaj in the opposite direction — her comfort zone of light classical tunes. The follow up to the Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer, is her outing as one of the 12 producers for the fourth season of Coke Studio@MTV, where Bhardwaj turns composer for the first time. “To say that composing music is a strength wouldn’t be true because it is not. Whatever I have composed in the past has been personal. But I think Coke Studio@MTV will allow me to explore and reflect how well can I do it,” says Bhardwaj, who has been poring over the nuances and glides of raag Rageshri. Her composition, a thumri, will stem from Rageshri and blend it with a variety of ragas to form a compound structure. She is likely to pair it with rap. “The process of taking a raga as the base and blending it with other ragas and genres, while retaining the aesthetics, is what I am aiming for,” says Bhardwaj, who is clear about not roping in husband, director and composer Vishal Bhardwaj for the process. “Once I have created the track, I will ask for his expert advice. I’m sure his composer’s head will have interesting things to say and add,” she says. Bhardwaj clears the air about turning composer for other ventures. “I really enjoy understanding the thought process of a lyricist, a composer’s idea of a melody and imbibing it in my work. It’s a long, arduous process, which challenges me. So I would like to stick to that,” says Bhardwaj, who has been appreciated in the past for her earthy voice texture and her ability to do justice to folksy and light classical numbers. After finding success with a private album Ishqa Ishqa in 1997, Bhardwaj’s has delivered a versatile mix from the folksy Namak (Omkara) and Sasural genda phool (Delhi 6) to the semi classical Badi dheere jali raina (Ishqiya). Delhi-bred Bhardwaj learnt the basics of classical music at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya, and trained under Pandit Amarnath followed by Amarjot Kaur, a student of Amarnath. Despite her extensive training, Bhardwaj does not want to be complacent. “I don’t think I have arrived yet. I need to better the learning curve,” she says. Cited as one of the more significant imports to the country, Coke Studio@MTV, in the last three years, has marked MTV’s return to music. While the first season with Leslie Lewis as the main producer was a huge disappointment, the next two with different composers for different episodes fared better. Unshackled by concerns of genres, they brought something reflective and interesting. This year, the show will repeat eight out of 12 producers, including Vishal-Shekhar, Amit Trivedi, Pritam, Clinton Cerejo, Sachin-Jigar, Ram Sampath, and Papon. Bhardwaj aside, the new names in the list include composer Sneha Khanwalkar, Saturday Saturday fame singer Badshah and Punjabi rapper Raftar, who will work on only one song. “As surprising as that may sound, this format will allow us to give people a music video comprising the back story of the song, a studio recording and a high-quality video that will play round the year,” says Debabrata Mukherjee, VP-Marketing & Commercial, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia.
