Raga Bhairavi in the Buddha Bar

When strains of an age-old thumri,piya bawari — known to have regaled the maharajas of Awadh at musical soirees — were heard playing in the famous Buddha Bar in Paris in 2002,not many understood the folk literature that formed an important part of thumri. But what surprised the Parisians was the contemplative style of Indian semi-classical music that was made to sound groovy without losing its basic structure. The musician who had created that effect was Abhijit Pohankar,son of classical vocalist Pandit Ajay Pohankar. “I grew up listening to this form of music from my father and have loved experimenting with various sounds,” says Abhijit,about his latest album,Thumri Funk (EMI,Rs 295) that released earlier this month.

Abhijit,who has collaborated with ace musicians such as Talvin Singh and Nitin Sawhney,has come out with this album after a four-year-long hiatus. “It has taken me a long time to figure this one out. I was touching and contemporising a form of music that had been so ingrained in the consciousness of many Indians,” he says. He adds that he has tried to retain the essence of the semi-classical thumris,most of which have been taken from Bade Ghulam Ali Khan’s repertoire.

The album opens with Naina more taras gaye — a lilting tune in raag Sindhu Bhairavi. Apart from the traditional usage of a harmonium,tabla and a groove through dholak,Abhijit has arranged the track with a slew of flutes,played by the tribals of the Amazon forest. This is followed by Abe ke saawan ghar aaja,a purab ang thumri,loosely based on Tilak Kamod and Yaad piya ki aye,in which Abhijit has used violins and made them sound like sarangi along with pianica (organ piano).

“This album is an effort to make classical music more accessible to people who do not understand it,” says Abhijit,whose father,an exacting purist,has taken a lot of time to adjust to this fusion. Abhijit is now working on Bandish Funk,where he is planning to take age-old bandishes and give them a new groove.