Sound of Studio

“I was approached by Hitesh to sing a song called Moh,for Coke Studio. It is sort of a devotional number with an interesting contemporary twist. But I love that Hitesh has kept the soul of the song alive,” he says. Ask him about the experience and Abhyankar says with excitement,”I’ve never experienced ‘live recording’. In general cases,we never even get to meet the other singers or even musicians. Each person comes to the studio,records their bit and then it is all assembled together. Here,we practiced a few times,and then recorded the whole thing at one go. It was a great!”

Abhyankar started learning Hindustani classical music from the age of eight. He has been groomed by his mother Shobha Abhyankar,Pandit Pimpalkhare and Pandit Jasraj. The 43-year-old has performed in over 200 cities in the last 30 years. He also won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1999 for his song,Suno re bhaila,in the film Godmother.

Now that Abhyankar has taken a first step into the world of popular culture,will we see more of him in films and TV shows? “I have never been averse to singing for Bollywood. It’s just that I am approached only when music directors need a certain kind of song from me. I’d be more than happy to perform and sing anywhere,as long as I am not straying from my roots,” he explains.

But will his staunch classical music supporters be disappointed with him straying away from his bhajans and bandishes from Mewati Gharana? “Not really,” he says. “You see,there’s the test match as well as a 20-20 match in cricket. Both have their audience,and both are popular. The circles hardly overlap,” says Abhyankar with a laugh.

Abhyankar takes pride in having recently recorded the entire Dasbodh in his voice as a part of a project by the Maharashtra Government. “This is perhaps one of the biggest projects that I have been associated with. It can easily be downloaded and I’m sure it will be liked and appreciated by everyone,” he said.

(Abhyankar’s episode with Sonik will be aired on Saturday,September 14)