Morning Raga

This year,Rajiv Gandhi Prthisthan Pimpale Nilakh organised a bhakti sangeet concert titled “Padmanabha Naryana”. International vocalist Pandit Raghunandan Panshikar invoked the festive spirits at the event,performing along with Avinash Patil on tabla,Manoj Bhandvalkar on pakhavaj and Umesh Purohit on harmonium. “The programme started at 4am,and we were really surprised to see the ground packed with people waiting for us to get on stage. After we played for three-and-a-half hours,the audience came up to us and complimented us on our performance. Most of them stayed throughout the programme till 7.30 am,” says Patil. Panshikar presented a ghazal in Yaman raag,for which the audience called an encore. He also performed recent popular songs by Kishore Yamunkar.

Hrishikesh Deshpande,Director,Indian Magic Eye,shared that they organised the pahat at Bal Gandharva on Saturday morning and at Ganesh Kala Krida on Sunday morning. The line up for the pahats have also been given a twist.

While most of the pahat concerts feature only Indian classical singers exploring various ragas on stage,Deshpande has introduced a mix of stand-up comedians and actors to bring a fresh wave to the concert format. “About 25 years ago,a group called Tridal had introduced the concept of Diwali pahat in the city. At that time,there were only three to four early morning concerts for Diwali,but now one can find over a hundred such events being held all over the city. Apart from commercial concerts,most of the big societies organise their own pahat for residents,” says Deshpande.

He also points out that though the number of concerts have increased,organisers are not being creative in bringing unique performances to the public. “All the pahats are similar,the need of the hour is to bring in a diversified flavour to the format of the pahat and make it more interesting for the audience,” says Deshpande,explaining the inclusion of stand-up acts in the concerts he has organised.