Play it again

Yet,for most theatre-goers,music has always been secondary to the story and acting. So it is fitting that the Bharat Rang Mahotsav— the annual festival of the National School of Drama— is highlighting,for the first time,the role of music in theatre. A segment called Natya Naad presents the trademark songs of various parts of India and of various theatre personalities.

For theatre directors,music was often the means to add multiple layers to the play. Govind Pandey,who assisted Bhaskar Chandrawarkar in Ram Nam Satya Hai three years ago,recalls how the theatre director used pipes and bottles,wooden blocks and combs to create background music for the opening scene about AIDS patients. “It was his way of saying that nothing is dead as long as it has music in its soul,” says Pandey.

Similarly,director BV Karanth did not limit himself to regular instruments. He had a collection of bamboos and stones and also produced sounds with marbles,coconut shells and asbestos sheets. “Technology has supplied us with a vast digital menu of sounds but where’s the effect that Karanth could create by simply crunching dry leaves during the forest scenes?” asks Dushyant,the coordinator of Natya Naad. Four theatre companies will present Karanth’s music from his Kannada plays,his works in Bhopal and the Punjabi songs he used in Yerma,Kitchen Katha,Fida and Nag Mandala.

Mohan Upreti,Habib Tanvir and KN Pannikar drew their inspirations from indigenous music. The first Natya Naad,presented by members of Upreti’s group Parvatiya Kala Kendra,had songs from Upreti’s plays such as Ali Baba,Mother,Amir Khusro and Meghdoot. Pandey,director of the Natya Naad performance on Upreti,recounts how the lilting song Lo Basant Aya,made for the pay Goura,has now become a folk song in the hills. “A song that was born on the stage is now a part of Kumaon’s folk culture,” he says.

Tanvir used the Chhattisgarhi idiom in every aspect of his theatre,and his music is replete with tribal and folk tunes of the state,while the songs of Kerala emerge in the plays of KN Pannikar,who draws on the indigenous and Carnatic traditions.

But few companies can beat the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) in creating an adrenaline rush. IPTA songs echoed the company’s Leftist leanings and were often about a struggle against injustice. A large number of musicians like Ravi Shankar,Salil Chowdhury and Sahir Ludhianvi were part of the group,so the musical repertoire is wide and varied. Sumangala Damodaran,who is researching IPTA and will perform some of the songs for Natya Naad,says,“IPTA music wasn’t only about marching beats. There were also love songs,songs about nature and folk tunes. We hope to break the stereotype about IPTA music.”

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