When Nagesh Surve is unable to name the song he whistled for composer Amit Trivedi,we play one of the composers less popular songs that has a whistling portion. In seconds,his daughter Rupali who keeps a list of recent songs in which his whistles were featured in says it is someone elses. The whistle,she says,lacks the clarity and personality of surves tone. For the last 40 years,surves whistling has been one of the few constants in hindi film music,which has travelled from the 70s Kishore- Lata-Rafi fare to the poppish melody of Jatin-Lalit and anand Milind of the 90s to the new age music of Trivedi,Pritam and sneha Khanwalkar. For the 63-year-old artiste,the most memorable anecdotes come from the olden days. he compares them to todays music,which according to him has been eclipsed by artificial effects. I am asked to whistle the same tune in variations. It is then mixed and programmed for the songs, says surve,from his small goregaon studio. he also misses the participation of the composer nowadays. Whistling has now become merely a mechanical routine job for surve. I get my payments on time,the rest I dont keep a tab on, he says. surve fondly remembers whistling in the olden days he whistled the score of a violin orchestra for Ravindra Jain in Mehboob studio. The modern day methods of music suffocate him. even his favourite among his more contemporary works,the whistle prelude in the Barfi! title song,is wrapped in the charms of old-world Bollywood. Its nice,old-styled,and has a very orchestra-led arrangement, he adds. surves other identity is of an instrumentalist (plays the violin and the sitar) and a composer,mostly in Marathi films (and the akshay Kumar starrer Zakhmi Dil). But the natural,carefree beauty of his whistling has given him unprecedented fame. Maybe I play the violin and whistle equally well but I get famous in one because I am the only one doing it, he says. surve has an amusing boyhood tale about the discovery of his special talent. In the chawls of Dadar where he grew up,surve remembers a group of boys from his block who would go for a walk to girgaum Chowpatty every night after dinner. They would make playful whistles as signals for each other to come out of their respective homes and assemble. surves keen ears observed the distinct whistles of all of them,and one day he played a mischief. I went out and emulated one of them and came back to my room. They were startled. I could whistle the way each of them did; they started requesting me to whistle their favourite songs. The ability to whistle with melody came from there,believes surve. The hobby then turned into a profession,when once during a picnic,music composer Usha Khannas assistant heard him whistling. he asked me if I had ever heard my own whistles. he insisted I should record it and see how it came out, he says. One reason for surves remarkable control over his whistling is his ability to read notations and then perform an act a ritual he is familiar with due to his experience as an instrumentalist. Besides,he maintains disciplined eating habits,which keeps his throat in good condition. I have to avoid anything that can dry up my throat. I avoid eating restaurant food,or onions and keep a minimum gap after a meal before I go for a recording, he adds. all for that perfect whistle.
