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Journalism of Courage
A lot of people have accused me of selling out! I would like to ask them, when was the last time anyone talked about the release of a classical album? I have no sense of disrespect for the popular, although classical music is always my first preference,8221; says khayal and thumri singer Shubha Mudgal, who is all set to release her second pop album, Ab Ke Sawan.
Mudgal, who, apart from being an accomplished performer, is also a composer of some repute 8211; she has scored music for dancers, ballets, documentary films, television serials and even two feature films, Mira Nair8217;s Kama Sutra and Rajan Khosa8217;s Dance Of The Wind 8211; first burst onto the pop scene with her album Ali More Angana in 1997 and followed it up with Jai Jai Mataram, part of the Vande Mataram series.
Mudgal has worked very closely with composer Shantanu Moitra and lyricists Prasoon Joshi and Jaideep Sahni on Ab Ke Sawan 8211; which has influences ranging from Indian folk and classical music to sounds from as far off as Africa and took a whole year to materialise.
Says Moitra, 8220;From the beginning, I knew I wanted her to render these songs, simply because of the off-beat quality of her voice, which is a complete contrast to the Indian concept of sweet and mellow.8221;8217;
For Mudgal herself, the idea of working with three newcomers and collaborating on an experiment like this was invigorating. 8220;Working on multi-track sounds and being part of a team was a refreshing break. And I discovered that the microphone is a very tough taskmaster 8211; it8217;s challenging to pitch one8217;s voice differently and use it in a manner that hasn8217;t been explored. I cannot predict how far it will be accepted, but for all of us involved, it was like a wonderful working holiday,8221; she says.
