Sunday 21 April 2024

Why isn't Hindustani Classical popular among the Indian youth?

Why isn't Hindustani Classical popular among the Indian youth? I learned Hindustani Vocal for 5 years. I feel, I am equipped enough to give a comprehensive answer to this question. The fault behind Classical Music not being popular in India lies equally with both the audience and the artists. Normally people start blaming the rise and dominance of Bollywood music for this. For me, It Makes absolutely no sense. Let me explain why: First of all, the audience: They are simply impatient. In this age, where people don't even read the full story beneath a newspaper headline, we cannot expect anyone to appreciate the art and the mystique of a 1 hour concert of any maestro. The attention span of this generation is the shortest and this is detrimental to the core form of classical music like khayal, dhrupad or vilambit, which is practically not made for this kind of environment. To take a cricket analogy, they are like Test cricket in the age of T20. Secondly, the artists: They simply do not improvise. Most of the Ustads and Pandits (except those at the very pinnacle) do not like to experiment or play with the archaic rules, regulations and forms of classical music. Many of these were drafted in the ancient times of emperors, Maharajas and Badshahs, which simply do not appeal to common person in the 21st century. A case in point is that of Ghazals: originally ghazals used to be infused with such mainstream Urdu, that it could only be enjoyed by scholars and experts in the language. Suddenly, artists like Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali started making ghazals the story of common man, while maintaining its identity. And this led to the unimagined stardom of both these greats. We need something similar in Classical Music. To give you an example of one of my favourites is: Third, Glamour: Non-existent in general cases. While common public love to see a Bollywood or Hollywood singer flaunt his/her well toned body in a dynamic and suprememly interactive concert, Classical singers on the other hand at generally Pot bellied, Paan-chewing middle to old aged persons, who only know how to sing. True, it is the purest form of music, but at the end of the day, they are performers. Things drastically change, when we infuse even a little tinge of Glamour like: Anoushka Shankar, Pandit Ravi shankar giving concerts in Chicago, Vegas or LA, Ustad Zakir Hussain playing the Tabla like a magician in Taj Tea Campaign ou Nuits de Fourviere. At the end, I would like to point out that, if you read it till the end, this boring piece of text, you can definitely enjoy the much more vibrant world of Classical Mu

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