Rhythm Divine

The album, which took almost six months to make and was recorded in Mumbai, contains two Sufi kalaams. While Rabba mere is a duet sung by Mangeshkar and Baiju, Ranjhan rawal mange is Mangeshkar senior’s solo track. There is a male version of the latter by Baiju and an unplugged version of the former is also included in the album. The songs are original poetries penned by 16th century Sufi poet, saint Hazrat Shah Hussain.

“This also happens to be the first time that Lataji has sung Sufi kalaams. I feel blessed that I got a chance to create compositions for her and that too on words penned by Hazratji,” quipped the singer. The mere mention of the Mangeshkar family transports you to the world of music. So, it was obvious for Baiju’s childhood to be filled with divine melodies all around. He started singing at a young age under the guidance of Pt. Tulsidas Sharma.

Adds Baiju, “But then, there came a phase when I was completely engrossed in studies and went on to pursue arts. I graduated from J.J. School of Arts and started working as a graphic designer. I was travelling across the globe for various workshops. But still, I managed to come back to my first love and began training under Pt. Ramesh Jule and Pt. Ajay Pohankar.”

The singer’s first tryst with playback singing happened at the age of 10, when he, along with his siblings and cousins, sang for a Marathi story and song album composed by his aunt Meena Khadikar, called Gauyaa Gaani, and released by HMV. Baiju believes that belonging to a music family does not mean that opportunities are served on a platter.

“While working on this album, I had the most fabulous set of musicians working for me, whether it is the arranger Jiten Sharma or the instrumentalist Chintu Singh, they are all some of the top most musicians in this country and they happily agreed to work on this project because of the Mangeshkar name. But with the name comes a lot of expectations.

The family has set a benchmark,which is extremely hard to live upto. Your work is bound to be analysed strictly by veterans in the music industry,” said Baiju. Although the singer has sung a couple of tracks in Marathi films, he is open to trying new genres and is not restricting himself. Trying out genres like contemporary, soft melodies and ghazals top his wishlist. With the album trend dying out and singles becoming the new rage, Baiju is keen on starting work on a few singles very soon.

“With the boom of independent music in India and the way artists have been getting opportunities to display their talent on the internet and other platforms, it is easier for singers and composers like me to try their hand at a variety of different genres. The next few months shall be spent working on new singles and creating more unique compositions,” mentioned Baiju.