Take two

Speaking about the show,Sanjeev Abhyankar,one of its anchors and also a performing artist says,“The idea behind this show was to bring some of the most accomplished classical singers and musicians on a platform from where they could reach out to a wider audience. On a personal level,I cannot decide which was bigger — being a part of the show as one of the artistes or anchoring the show.”

Echoing that thought is the other anchor of the show,Neha Rajpal,who says,“We had the anchoring parts divided equally between us. So,while Sanjeev spoke about the music,I gave the anchor links and also added a little to Sanjeev’s description of the artistes and the music.”

The show has seen the likes of artistes such as Pt Jasraj,Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia,Pt Shivkumar Sharma and Jagjit Singh perform on its stage. Speaking more about her experience whilst performing on stage,artiste Bela Shende says,“On stage,once the music starts floating through your ears,all you do is give it your best. It feels amazing to be up there on the stage and to reach out to people who listen to you with immense zest and enthusiasm.”

Durga Jasraj,co-founder of IMA and one of the anchors of the Hindi version of the show says one of the prime reasons to launch the show on national television was to enable people in the rural areas to watch it. “To take this a step further we decided to launch the show in Marathi as well,so that the state’s audience could relate to in a language they are familiar with,” she adds.

“One of the most striking aspects of this show is the fact that it seamlessly merges classical music and the audiences. No one feels alienated or no one is left with a feeling that they cannot relate to the music because everyone does. As a singer and a classical musician myself,this is probably one of the best things to happen to the Indian classical music scene here,” says accomplished singer Anuradha Paudwal about the program.

(The show will be aired every Wednesday on DD Sahyadri from 5.30 to 6 pm)