Shamir Tandon - "I feel let down as my songs are never played in autos or night clubs because they lack fast tempo"

Shamir Tandon was in the media glare recently for having composed track with the legendary musician Lata Mangeshkar for Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail. However, he is apprehensive that his tracks won’t be played after the hype is over.

Known for his music for Madhur’s triology Traffic Signal, Page 3, Corporate and the forthcoming Jail, Shamir Tandon has an impressive lineup in Bollywood this year. Having done legitimate collaborations for his tracks- One love, Bure Bure, he lashes at the composers for engaging in plagiarism. In a conversation with Anita Iyer, the corporate professional turned musician chats about his experience working with Lataji, his experimental music and opines on the issues in the music industry.

• There has been a lot of buzz around on you composing a track with the melody queen, Lata Mangeshkar for Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Jail’. How was it composing for Lata di?

Lataji is a living legend with sanctity attached with her name. This was my third recording with her, ‘Kitne ajeeb’ from Page 3 being the first, one unreleased and this track from Jail. Right from the time we approach her to sing, we feel the reciprocal enthusiasm to sing for us although she is not singing many songs these days. I sent her scratch of the track in my horrendous voice and she immediately responded with a positive answer. The track she has sung is basically a bhajan played in the jail early in the morning. so, this the prayer to which they wake up in the morning in the film.

• Do you or the recordists in the studio get intimidated while recording the track with Lataji?

It would be surprising to know that she comes bang on time for recording unlike the new crop of singers! Lata di brings lyrics handwritten by her and carries her own ‘chai and garam pani’! She asks, although she doesn’t need to, if she can make minute changes for the enhancement of the song. She ensures that nobody is intimidated that they are recording with ‘Lata Mangeshkar’ and encourages criticisms while recording to ensure the product is finally good.

From this generation, I am the only one blessed to be given a chance for recording as she isn’t recording these days. I was touched to know that in her biography among the pictures which include Madan Mohan, Sajjad Hussain, Khayam Sahab, she has added pictures of A R Rahman and mine among the current lot!

• The music that you compose is very different from the current lot of peppy numbers we hear on radio or discos…

In the last four years, the music I have been composing did not follow the contemporary flavour and one of the reasons being, the films I worked on did not demand that kind of music. I feel a little let down when I notice my songs are never being played in a rickshaw or night clubs because my songs aren’t the ones with fast tempos. Also unfortunately, people tend to measure song’s popularity on the basis of its play in night clubs and radio.

I believe, the songs I compose, like this track with Lataji, won’t be played by the media much. As of now, it is getting coverage because Lataji has rendered vocals for it, but later channels might hesitate to play it. Youth music channels have a perception that such songs are not preferred by the youth, but I think they tend to challenge the intelligence of the youth by underestimating their preferences.

• What is your take on the contemporary peppy tracks ruling the charts?

We have to be true to the profession we are in. We are film music directors and it is different from an album director. While working on your album, you can experiment with whatever elements you want but in a film you have to cater to the need of the masses. If you don’t create a music that the producer demands, you are not doing justice to the profession you are in.

You have worked on a number of films on an assortment basis- Bluffmaster, Mission Istanbul to name a few. What is your take on working on assortment basis?

I would never like to work on an assortment basis. I think the way the industry is shaping up, it is unfortunate that this trend is being seen in the industry. Film director visualises and music director puts audio to his vision, this gets disturbed in case of multiple composers. In the last couple of years, multi composer compositions in films have not worked than a single composer for a film. The general perception in a multi composer album is that the director has picked the best of musicians and has a mixed bag of music, which is wrong. In reality, barring a few films, this concept doesn’t seem to be working. Today films have a limited scope for music and that is endangered by muti composer trend.

• There are some veterans like Pankaj Udhas who believes that songs would disappear from Hindi Cinema… do you endorse these thoughts?

The number of songs in films are decreasing, the kind of cinema made these days don’t have much scope for music. You have only 2-3 songs in totality and it doesn’t make sense to engage more than a composer for that. Most of the songs are used as background scores and the concept of actors lip syncing is diminishing in Bollywood. Even my song like ‘Kitne ajeeb rishte’ was used as a backgrounder in Page 3. But music can never be eradicated from Bollywood films, even though the films don’t fit in, the film makers would somehow squeeze in the track in the film. Music plays an instrumental role in promotions and bringing the initial footfalls in the cinema halls. Good music gives some kind of credibility to the film, there is a saying in the industry- ‘If you don’t have Aamir or Shahrukh, you must atleast have good music’!

• You have been very experimental in music for your films…

I would say that the film makers I have worked with have also been experimental. Like Madhur Bhandarkar, his genre is experimental and realistic, so I get a scope to experiment. In my music for Sanjay Gupta’s forthcoming Acid factory I could experiment because Sanjay has a flair for music.

• You are coming for Shemaroo’s animation movie ‘Panga gang’. What is the scope of music in an animation movie?

There is lot of scope for experimentation in animation movies. Times are changing and animation worldwide is a very big industry now and I think in a course of time, music will find its prominence in animation movies. We have examples of crazy fox and then the recent Vodafone’s Zoo Zoo characters, where the animated characters created waves. Walt Disney is also sourcing music for its animation movie, India is on a global map and it our onus to take it forward and showcase our potential.

• Having delivered some great music with Madhur Bhandarkar, how did your association with him begin?

It was when I was the managing director of Virgin that I met Madhur. I was sitting at a coffee shop at Taj when I was introduced to Madhur Bhandarkar by a common friend. I expressed my inclination for composing for Bollywood music and hummed a few tunes in his ears as you cant shout your lungs at Taj! He liked my music and we have been working together since then.

• How was this transition from a management guy to a musician…

I studied cost accountancy and MBA in marketing and international business. I was musically inclined but didn’t know what music director and compositions meant because that time there were no reality shows and exposure to music was limited. I started doing ad jingles and my bosses in earlier jobs were encouraging that I pursue my passion for music. So, I was a professional by day and musician by night. I didn’t have a formal training in music but I believe you have to understand the process of recording which I learnt on job while doing jingles.

• What are your views on the cliff between the musicians and industry over royalties?

In our country, the royalty issue is still in preliminary stage and I think over a period things would be restructured. If things work out in a next couple of years, we can buy an island for ourselves if we get one superhit song a year. It is good that some composers are in a position where they can demand royalty and are shaping the industry and are paving paths for the newer generation. There is a movement where united forum of lyricists and music directors are voicing and it is a process as you cannot change what has been followed from the past 60- 70 years.

• Do you think music directors are underpaid in the industry?

It is not only the music directors but also the lyricists who are underpaid in the industry. Singers have an alternate source of revenue called live shows and can earn a couple of crores in a month. But the lyricists and composers have no right once they do Kanyadan of the song.

• What are your views on the prevailing plagiarism in the industry?

Plagiarism occurs at two level, one where in a subliminal manner, there are remote resemblances to a song and second when there is a straight lift of tracks from Korea, Japan, Brazil. Every artist looks for two things money and credit, so if you can give the credits to the original creators and divide the money with him, it works. Composers in Bollywood must embrace legitimate collaborations and not overlook the creativity of the original composers. I had collaborated with Boy band Blue for ‘One Love’, and similar collaborations for Say na and Bure Bure from Bluffmaster.

• The recent non-film music you composed was for the IPL track for Deccan Chargers. Any more non-film lined up?

Right now I am focusing only on films because ultimately Bollywood is the biggest medium which gets you the recognition. Deccan chargers was the IPL which stood last the previous year and won this year, (guffaws) I would like to believe my music has inspired them!

• What are your upcoming Bollywood projects …

My Bollywood lineup includes Vijayata Films, Cheers, Sanjay Gupta’s Acid Factory, Satish Kaushik’s ‘Hawaidada’, Popcorn Studio 18’s Loot, Apoorva Lakhia’s untitled, Mahindra and Popcorn’s Mumbai Chakachak, Pritish Nandy Communication’s Click, Manmohan Shetty’s Aamras, Sanjay Dutt’s Mukti, Sohail Khan’s Kya fool hai hum, Shemaroo’s Panga Gang and some more. Phew!

Write in your comments at anita.iyer@gmail.com

Interview with dandiya queen Falguni Pathak- "Navratri music must be more traditional rather than Bollywood."


Her name is synonymous with the dandiya festivities in Mumbai, the annual song and dance routine that is staged by various organisations for the nine day Navratri festival.

After being in hibernation throughout the year, Falguni Pathak resurfaces at this time every year, looking the same she's always done. Performing live each year for two decades during a single festival is no mean feat and Pathak has achieved that. She is now all geared up to make the audiences groove to traditional Gujarati numbers. In an engaging conversation with  Anita Iyer, Pathak comments on the commercialisation of Navratri, change in music preferences at dandiya venues, revival of non-film genres and much more...

Excerpts:

What is your take on the Bollywood songs being played at dandiya venues?

Being a Gujarati festival, the music at these venues should be more Gujarati folk music and we at Sankalp would be concentrating on singing more Gujarati songs. Every year before Navratri, I go to Gujarat and bring the latest songs - ‘garbe’. I collect the latest CDs before Navratri, shortlist tracks, work on them to fit them into Gujarati beats for urban audiences.

When do you start the process of shortlisting songs for Navratri?

I start searching for songs two months prior to the festival. We mainly look for melody in songs because there are an equal number of people who gather to hear the songs, apart from the ones coming to dance. So, we have to keep in mind that we give value for money for both types of audiences and keep them entertained.


How do you pick Bollywood music in your list? Which Bollywood songs would you be singing this year?

This year, we won’t be concentrating on contemporary Bollywood music as songs this year aren’t the ones which could fit in for dandiya. When I come across a Bollywood track that can be squeezed in for dandiya, I hear it myself for 15-20 times and then convince the troupe to set the song with garba beats. It is only after numerous rehearsals with the troupe that a song is selected for performance for nine days.

Tell me something about your troupe members?

There are some rhythmists and musicians in my troupe who have been with me since the time I started performing with Sankalp about 15 years back. There are some changes which keep happening every
year in the troupe but the musicians remain the same.

There were news of your singing partner Nilesh Thakkar, joining the rival group. Also tell us something about the new singer Tushar Trivedi?

Newspapers had mentioned that he would be singing for the rival group but there is no rivalry in real sense, these are all publicity gimmicks. We both are singers and our motto is to entertain audiences and we would be doing that this year as well, although differently. The singer replacing him is not new in the troupe; he has been performing with me for a couple of years.

How has the audiences changed in the last decade you have been performing?

Some years back, the audiences wanted more Bollywood music to be sung at pandals but now majority of the crowd consists of youngsters and they look for more regional gujarati music. It is impressive to see youngsters inclined towards regional gujarati music in today’s times. Also, the crowd coming for dandiya are more cosmopolitan with many non-gujaratis swaying to the beats although they don’t have an understanding of the language.

Navratri has become more commercial with Sankalp tying up exclusively and film promotions happening at the venues. What is your take on it?

We try to keep up the festival fervour by singing traditional songs at Sankalp. Sankalp over the years has become larger and is one of the biggest dandiya venues in Mumbai. Sankalp spends over crores for the festival every year and getting advertisers over board and tying exclusively with television and radio platforms is a way to recover the crores being spent. There is nothing wrong with trying different avenues to recover costs.

Does the 10 pm deadline act as a spoiler during Navratri festival?

The 10 pm has dampened the festive spirit of the professional who come down from their workplace around 9 and have to wind up by 10. We see a lot of crowd gathering during the weekends as audiences make it a point to be early at the venue. But the deadline needs to be extended atleast till 11 pm as the nine day festival comes only once a year and winding up at 10 disappoints the audiences.

You have been performing live during Navratri for almost two decades now. When did you start the journey?

I started about 22 years back, initially I started singing for a Mumbai based orchestra called ‘Roop Kala’ in Fort area. In those days, there was less emphasis on songs and more on instrumental versions of the songs. The role of the singers was only to sing in chorus and I was singing in chorus when somebody from the audience asked the organsier to make me sing in the lead. I rendered two gujarati songs on stage and some other organiser noticed me and I joined his troupe.

When did you start leading the troupe at dandiya venues?

I started singing in the lead with Sankalp about 15 years back. Having taken the responsibility to be the lead singer, we used to brainstorm before every performance about the improvements to be implemented like concentrating on the rhythm, how to make the audiences groove to a beat. I believe it is vital to judge yourself rather than letting others point finger at you, so we have improved as a group in the past many years.
Post singing live at venues, I launched my albums which got me further recognition and more footfalls at events. In the past couple of years, I have also taken up singing at international venues.

You just came from an international tour…

Prior to Mumbai, I performed at Australia and would be going to the United States post the Navratri season in Mumbai. The spirit of the festival is same every where, they also wait through out the year for the festivities. This was the first time when I performed in Australia and the response was very impressive.

With the non-film music on the back burner, do you have any plans to come up with an album?

After Navratri, I am planning to launch a solo album. There was a time when non-film ruled and co-existed with Bollywood. Times will change and non-film will again gain importance it had some years back. To revive non-film, artists must give good music, keep trying and not give up before Bollywood music.

Send in your comments to:anita.iyer@gmail.com

Pankaj Udhas - "Music channels are not supporting sensible music"

Pankaj Udhas, the voice behind many soulful ghazals like ‘Chandi jaisa rang hai tera’, ‘Aur ahista’ has mesmerized ghazal lovers for over two decades with his intoxicating numbers. Having delivered 38 albums, the singer has also left his footprints in Bollywood with unforgettable songs like ‘"Chitthi Ayi Hai’, ‘Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Kahani Ayi’. 

The singer narrates his remarkable journey in the ghazal world, the flak he faced for being experimental, his stint in Bollywood and the diminishing ghazal genre in a conversation with Anita Iyer. 

You recently launched a spiritual album with Times Music, a first for you in a career that spans about 38 albums. 

The spiritual genre has been very personal to me, I practise religion but never tried my hand at a devotional album. About 25 years ago, a friend had given me a book of ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ and I have carried that book since then. I have carried the same copy for all these years and it gives me tremendous amount of security. 

It was in November 2008 while watching the terror attacks on Mumbai that I started reciting Hanuman Chalisa to get a sense of protection. When Times approached me to cut an album on Hanuman Chalisa, I could not resist it. 

You have been criticised by purists for experimenting with the original form of ghazals? 

Why single out ghazal singing? Indian classical music has undergone much experimentation too. Today, it has reached a stage where Indian classical musicians perform at Hard Rock Café too. Shastirya sangeet fascinates international artistes and there are collaborations between Indian musicians with artistes abroad. We have classic examples like Amjad Ali Khan sahib performing with the Scottish orchestra. 

On similar lines, the ghazal is traditional folk and has undergone research and experimentations to become more acceptable among the masses. When I started singing in the 1980s, I resolved to make this folk music as popular as possible. I experimented in the use of instruments, musical compositions, mode of style and other areas. Over the years, many have appreciated my efforts for making the genre popular but also have criticised me on the basis of 'pure and impure' ghazal but have themselves failed to distinguish between the two. People used to raise eyebrows when Begum Akhtar sang the ghazal in thumri andaaz… 

You have made appearances in some Bollywood movies, how has your journey in Bollywood been?

I always wanted to be a ghazal singer but there was hardly any scope then, so the obvious alternative was films. But Bollywood in those days was ruled by veterans like Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore with hardly any opportunity for a newcomer. I remember singing for a film- Kamna and later never got an offer again! I gave up the idea of singing for films and started singing ghazals abroad which gave me instant recognition. It was then that "Chitthi Ayi Hai" came my way. After the success of Chitthi, I even appeared in movies like Saajan and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Kahani Ayi. I could have started my innings in Bollywood after that but I am very passionate about ghazal singing and didn’t want to get diluted in Bollywood. 

Do you consider ‘Chitthi Ayi Hai’ as turning point of your career? 

I started my career as a singer in 1980 and ‘Chitthi Ayi Hai’ came to me at the end of December 1985. Before the release of ‘Chitthi Ayi Hai’ in August 1986, I released an album titled ‘Aafreen’, a two cassette set with a compilation of 14 of my ghazals. The music company, Which had launched the album with one million copies sold out within a span of 10 days. 

I recall before the film was released, a newspaper ad mentioned a picture of Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav, and there was also a picture of mine mentioning 'also featuring Pankaj Udhas'. So I would say the song brought me to the common masses who were not essentially ghazal patrons. 

Any memorable incident during your performances that you can narrate for us? 

In March 1986, I was doing concerts in America and a memorable incident took place at one particular concert at Madison Square, New York, there were about 7,000 people at the concert. During the interval, I pulled out the lyrics of the song Chitthi aaye hai. I remember the producer Rajendra Kumar had asked me not to perform this song anywhere until the film released in India. Assuming that I am performing in New York and the producer is back in India, I presented this song to the audiences there. After I finished the song, there was silence in the auditorium for a few seconds and I thought people didn’t like the song. But suddenly, all of them began applauding, crying and the clapping continued for three to four minutes. 

Did the producer ever know about you performing ‘Chiti aaye hai’ before the release in India? 

After about half an hour, I got a call from Rajendra Kumarji and it really shocked me when he said, “Pankaji aap ne toh gana gaa diya!” and I apologised for it. He said that it is good as we now know the public feedback before the release. Apparently, his friend was in the audience and reported the incident to Rajendraji. Rajendra Kumar then insisted that I perform the song everywhere in America till the last leg of the tour. 

You mentioned some time back about your album selling one million copies… what is your take on the current dwindling sales? 

The music industry is at a very depressing stage. In the entertainment area, the business which has suffered the most is the music industry because cinema still has collections of Rs two to three billion. As far as music is concerned, there was a time when millions of audio prints were sold, but today even for a big film, the music sells only 25,000 copies. When it comes to physical sales, albums by every artist are suffering. The only optimistic line is that mobile companies are giving returns from the digital arena. The whole pleasure of selling physical CDs is gone and I have a feeling CDs are on the way to extinction too. In the next few years, CDs will go out completely and a new format of straight downloads on your music players will emerge. 

Also online piracy is getting very rampant and it is such a wide medium that it is difficult to police it as there are millions of pirates out there. But if we develop a sustainable model for generating revenues from internet downloads, the revenues would be huge but it will take time for that phase to come. 

Do you think songs carry the same importance in today’s films? 

I can guarantee you that in some years there will be no music in cinema. In the current trend the movies hardly have two to three songs and among them, one is an item number, one song for the background and the whole concept of lip sync by actors is gone. 

In earlier times, there used to be a Mohammed Rafi as Shammi Kapoor’s voice, Kishore Kumar was the voice of Rajesh Khanna and so on. Today, we don’t have any identification because today
films release on the lines of Hollywood with limited scope for music. In three or four years, you might have one title song and one item song because today’s audiences don’t want it. 

We hardly see any ghazal music in Bollywood nowadays… 

Basically, the genre of film music needs to be revamped. Film music has become completely corrupt as far as lyrics are concerned. When you copy Japanese and Taiwanese songs, how can you expect melodies? Ghazal is the best form of music which boasts of good lyrics, music with a combination of poetry and melody. There are few musicians who are creating some great music and have composed ghazals as well, not everyone is capable of composing ghazals. There is no support for non film music from electronic media as they play only Bollywood. 

Do you hold the electronic media responsible for the ghazals losing out to popular music? 

Music channels are not supporting sensible music, they are running after eyeballs. These music channels are losing their TRPs and are finding it difficult to sustain because they are not showing non-film music. There was a craze for MTV and channel [V] some years back because they showcased a variety like ghazals, international music, non film etc. But today they play only film songs which is available on any GEC, so why would anyone come to music channels? 

What is the status of ghazal music today- is it flourishing or diminishing? 

When I started singing ghazals in 1976, people used to ridicule me when I mentioned I want to make a career out of ghazal singing. In 1970s, the ghazal genre was revived and today is one of the most popular genres in the country. It has been around for a long time and there is no way that you can just erase or wipe it off. But the point is the focus on ghazals is lost. The music gaining focus today are the dance numbers. The day people realise that they have had enough of dance, other genres would be noticed. 

Although we have many young talented singers, nobody is keen to don the ‘ghazal singer’s hat… 

The lure of cinema and dance numbers is so huge that youngsters get carried away. Also, platforms like Indian Idol and other reality shows stress on popular music and we don’t have a reality show for ghazal music. Ghazals requires sincerity and tremendous amount of hard work, you have to learn Indian classical music, get a hold on Urdu and need a lot of riyaaz. And the other option is to get on to Indian Idol and get fame in 15 minutes. What would you prefer?

PPL CEO Vipul Pradhan - People are using music increasingly but the value is not coming back to the music industry

Source: Radioandmusic.com

The spectre of piracy continues to haunt the music industry, draining its revenues and crippling new initiatives. The Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), the licensing arm of the Indian Music Industry, is striving hard to license the use of music in the public arena.

In an interview with Radioandmusic.com's Anita Iyer, PPL CEO Vipul Pradhan outlines PPL's plans for the year ahead.

Excerpts:

How has the spread of digital music impacted the industry?

In the past five years, mobile downloads have been on an upward curve with a variety of products available for consumers - from ringtones, track downloads to caller ringback tones. But piracy that exists at multiple levels is now beginning to eat into it. The crucial one is at the consumer level via bluetooth, which is threatening the growth of this market. The ringtone industry was perceived to have great potential, but the market has now vanished and has actually shown a decline in the past 12-14 months. If we analyse the revenue, ringback tones form 75-80 per cent of revenue to the music industry, 15-20 per cent comes from ringtones and 10 per cent from streaming services. We can conclude that there is zero per cent piracy in ringback tones, but about 80 per cent piracy in ringtones.

Is the revenue from television licensing increasing with the rise in music related shows on TV?

With the success of music based reality shows, there is a different trend to the value of music on TV. There are channels which thrive on music based shows and in the short run, this has started to give us a reasonable amount of revenue. But there are still problems because some broadcasters, specially the regional ones, do not have legitimate licenses for using third party content.

The revenue from television licenses, which was 10 per cent of the whole last year, has doubled to 20 per cent. We are also contemplating action against those who do not have legitimate licenses. In the first phase, we targeted the big broadcasters and have been successful in converting them into legitimate users. In the second phase, we would be targeting the niche or regional channels, so hopefully, the percentage share may go up to 25 per cent by next year.

The radio industry has been demanding rationalization of music royalties. Has any amicable solution emerged from talks with radio operators?

The PPL is here for the business of licensing. The fundamental question here is that the current rates of Rs 660 is fixed by the government and our demand for Rs 2400 per hour. The cost of packaging of content in radio is two to three per cent which is evident from balance sheet of various companies. The revenue share to us from mobile and internet radio is 25-40 per cent, so the question is why should we liberate content for FM at two to three per cent. It is nothing but pressure tactics by radio companies to bully individual music companies to surrender their rights at marginal cost. That is not acceptable to us and we are here to protect the rights of the industry.

Has the PPL been taking a closer look at licensing music for events? How do you monitor events?

Event licensing forms a very big share of revenue to PPL, particularly from public performances in the international market.

We have a team of a hundred employees to keep an eye on the events in cities. We have also outsourced eight agencies who work on a commission basis on a larger scale, and also direct sale agents who have access to information about events. The problem is we have not penetrated in all the 500 cities in the country and are currently focusing on only 40-50 cities and have not touched more than five to 10 per cent of the events market. Although the big events are easy to figure out, the smaller ones are still untouched.

What is the current number of companies under PPL?

From 60 companies within our fold some years ago, we now have 140. The increase is largely because music labels want to retain their content with us. Also, PPL controls a large amount of music, 100 per cent of international music, a sizeable amount of Bollywood's old and new content and has a good presence in regional content like Telugu, Gujarati and Marathi.

What can you do to lessen the effects of music to music transfers?

Music transfers via bluetooth are hampering the growth of the industry due to easy availability. One solution could be manufacturing handsets with restricted formats where there is no easy conversion of formats, but manufacturers would be loath to accept this idea.

Another solution would be easy access of music to people who do not want to opt for CDs. The industry has already started issuing licenses for putting up jukeboxes and kiosks at public places with easy operations and minimal rates. With lesser prices, we hope consumers might opt for buying music. Other plans include having a DRM block so that songs can be downloaded but cannot be forwarded via bluetooth. The problem here is that there is a need for thousands of kiosks throughout the country. While all these steps may reduce piracy, it is not possible to eliminate it completely.

How does the PPL track websites offering pirated ringtones?

Full track downloads is a big problem even in international markets. In the past, India was an exception owing to the limited proliferation of Internet and bandwidth speed, but Indian music was downloaded abroad on a large scale. Now, we need to keep a track on servers worldwide. Also, the IFPI based in London helps us to keep track of international websites. Companies hosting these websites either block their websites or get legitimate licenses to operate legally.

Does this mean that the PPL will be posting higher revenues this fiscal?

Today, the issue is not about music industry or the PPL but about physical versus non physical music. The monetisation of music is undergoing a radical change like in Korea, where 50 per cent of the revenue comes from physical formats and 50 per cent from non physical like wireless, events etc. India is also going the same way and is the second market after Korea where the revenue is equally divided. We are doing really well.

So, where is the music industry headed?

Physical sales continue to be on the downward curve. A few years ago, chartbuster albums sold a million copies, but today, the benchmarks of hits have changed to only a few thousand copies. People are using music increasingly but the value is not coming back to the music industry. It can also be attributed to a shift in terms of utilization, from CDs to pirated MP3 CDs and media like radio, internet radio, IVR radio. The losses from physical sales cost the industry about Rs six billion (Rs 600 crore), pirated ringtones and full track transfers via Bluetooth cost about Rs three to four billion (Rs 300-400 crore) affecting the industry to the tune of about Rs 10 billion (Rs 1000 crore) annually.

Is there any other way to deter pirates?

The police suggest we reduce our prices to compete with pirates. But it is not possible, as the only similarity seems to be the raw plastic CD cost. The pirates do not pay for IPRS, VAT, excise duties, income tax arising from the profits. There is no cost of content, marketing and promotions, and the pirates sell only hit content in the market, so there is minimal risk involved. So, there is no way we can compete with the pirates. All we can do is punish them when found guilty.

Ameen Sayani - "AIR can co-exist with private players"

Source: Radioandmusic.com

Behno aur Bhaiyo...main apka dost Ameen Sayani bol raha hoon...aur aap sun rahe hain Binaca Geet Mala", these mesmerising lines still have a recall value across generations. The man behind the golden voice, Ameen Sayani chats with Radioandmusic.com’s Anita Iyer tracing sixty years of evolution of radio, penetration of private players in the radio space and changes in the radio fraternity over the decades.

You have been a part of the radio industry since the heydays of All India Radio. Which do you feel were the milestones in the Indian radio sector over the years?

The then I&B minister B V Keskar had slightly offbeat ideas about what should be allowed on air and what should not be. He took some disastrous steps, the most important being the ban of film music on AIR, which, at that time had a rich library of film music. It was a golden period of Indian cinema with the best singers, composers and lyricists being a part of the industry. Radio was the greatest home entertainment medium. At the same time, Radio Ceylon started and the listenership shifted from AIR to Ceylon.

Radio Ceylon didn’t have proper announcers in place but it clicked with the audiences only because they played Hindi film music. By 1950, Radio Ceylon had set up a regular unit of broadcasters for commercial work in Bombay. My brother Hameed was the Programme director of Ceylon and he brought in good sponsored programmes and commercials. By 1951-52, Ceylon had a host of sponsored shows like Lipton Ke Sitaare, Binaca Getmala, Ponds Hit Parade, Polsons quiz kids, S Kumars ka filmi mukadama etc. With the commercials came feature film publicity, which gave colour and variety to Radio Ceylon broadcasting.

Was there any other reason for the decline in AIR’s listenership?

In 1947, after Independence, a large number of broadcasters, news readers, announcers went to Pakistan, the most notable among them the Bokhari brothers. Under the I&B regulations, announcers were not supposed to chat but present everything in a morose fashion, reading from a script. So, AIR became terribly boring and listeners preferred Radio Ceylon.

What then led to Ceylon’s declining popularity in the 1980s?

What hit Radio Ceylon was the reception on the short waves that started dwindling in the 1970s, because the transmitters had become very old Also, the short wave bands became very congested and by the 1980s, listeners could not hear the station well. By the late 80s, the reception almost vanished.

So, your show Geetmala was shifted to Vividh Bharati…

Geet mala, the commercial programme started on Radio Ceylon in December 1952, shifted to Vividh Bharati in 1989. Initially, it used to be Binaca Geetmala which later became Cibaca geetmala. It was further taken over by Colgate and so my show was called Colgate Cibaca Geetmala on Vividh Bharati!

Why couldn’t Vividh Bharati keep its numero uno position?

In 1979, when Vasant Sathe was made the I&B minister, he revamped the commercial rate card for Doordarshan. By the 1980s, when sponsored shows started on Doordarshan, Sathe thought of raising the rates of Vividh Bharati by five times. On increasing the commercial rate, the business immediately crashed by 25 per cent and there was absolute chaos.

Did the drop in the listenership of Vividh Bharati pave the way for the rise of the private players later?

Incidentally, just after Vividh Bharati started dropping, independent FM was given time slots on Vividh Bharati transmitters to go on air. Some of the pioneers were Radio Midday and Times FM, which picked up listenership and earned money within the permitted time slots. But these were discontinued soon. The initial two sessions of bidding for privatisation of FM radio were scrapped and it was only the third bidding that worked in favour of the private players. There has been no stopping them since.

You have worked with private FM as well as AIR? How has the listenership changed over the years?

My show ‘Sangeet ke sitaro ki mehfil’ with one hour episodes went on air on Red FM for about two and half years, completing 204 episodes. They used to air fresh episodes on Mondays and Tuesdays, with the repeat telecast on other weekdays. So, I was on air every night on Red FM when it launched.

Overall, listenership doesn’t change much except for the fact that each generation has its own likes and dislikes. My show on Red FM is still broadcast in Dubai, New York, Atlanta and New Zealand.

What are your views on the contemporary FM stations?

I think they all have the same style of speaking, the same songs being played over and over with the same formats. But there are many energetic youngsters with loads of aspirations; who have the capability to become great stars in broadcasting. The FM channels need to have more variety, change the voices, formats, and develop an individual character of each station so the listeners can be segregated.

What has been the USP of your shows?

I guess it was the pre-planning of episodes and the way various components were linked that worked in my favour. Everything right from the signature tune of the show, to my entry, to the commercials, sharing personal experiences was beautifully linked and one could never switch off the radio. We also had all sorts of stunts, halla gula like the current RJs but made the listeners curious about the show to keep their ears glued to the radio.

Where yours shows scripted or were they impromptu?

I was trained right from childhood to read from a script without seeming to be doing so. That reading had a lot of advantages; you could plan your script in advance without wasting time and build in any sort of link. Each producer had his own script writers. I used to script half of my programmes myself, until I started producing shows for both Vividh Bharati and Ceylon. Then, I had 30 programmes a week, so I had a whole team of outstanding script writers who used to write scripts for me.

What is a major difference between RJing in your times and today?

Today the RJs are totally ruled by computers and do not have complete freedom on their show. Their time is limited and within that time slot, commercials, talk and music have to be pushed in. On failing to follow the time constraint, the computer cuts the RJ talk off, so it’s more or less automated. Even the songs played are shortlisted by someone and the RJ has no say in it.

In Geetmala, I remember doing an episode when Neil Armstrong had stepped on the moon, so I had an episode with all the songs linked to the moon. So, you could do almost anything you wanted. But the positive change is the announcers today are chatting more than we used to in our times.

Will permitting news on private FM stations wean the listenership away from AIR?

We have many newspapers with different points of view, yet they all work. So, even AIR can co-exist with private players with permission to air news. There can be regulations to see that nobody misuses the medium by airing biased views for personal agenda.

Finally… how do you react when you hear your patent style ‘Beheno aur bhaiyo…’ and your voice being imitated repeatedly?

It’s hilarious, because I don’t talk in that manner any more. Whenever I hear people imitating my voice, I just hold my head and can’t help laughing!

Radio MUST head Pankaj Athavale - For us, the most important thing is to sound interesting and intelligent

Source: Radioandmusic.com
Mumbai University initiated its community radio station – Radio MUST 107.8 FM in February 2008. The unique initiative completes one year next month. Airing content initially for four hours, the CR now broadcasts 13 hours of programming. In a conversation with Radioandmusic’s Anita Iyer, Radio MUST head Pankaj Athavale looks back at the year gone by, initiatives of Radio MUST and sustainability of CRs in India.

Can you introduce your radio station to our readers?

Radio MUST started a year ago, backed by Mumbai University, and follows a talk format. Our main concern is to air content relevant to the community and also exhibit it in a the conventional ‘FM’ manner to lure listeners.

What content do you air on Radio MUST?

We give information about anything which is informative, but the packaging plays a very important role where the RJs speak in typical FM style. We primarily have programmes in Hindi, English and Marathi languages.

Students are our primary audience; we have segments like music shows where we profile musicians, bands and college students. We air capsules on economics, history of forts across Mumbai and Maharashtra, ‘did you know’ factoids from the animal world, environment, health tips by doctors, book reviews, food reviews, psychology shows, English speaking tuitions, snippets on e-waste. We have listeners calling us for civic issues with complaints concerning BMC leaving road pits, water shortage, SRA schemes, municipality rules, traffic rules, etc.

Also we have started field broadcasts where our jocks send live links. Like, for an economics convention, we would be placing the cell phone next to the speaker and airing the convention live.

Has the concept of talk based radio station gone down well with your listeners?

The talk concept is new to India and there are not many takers as there are many music based radio channels available. For us, the most important thing is to sound interesting and intelligent, otherwise the listeners would move to the next channel. Our content is divided into 70 per cent talk and 30 per cent music. The music is non commercial and original - created by bands, individuals and students form the university. We air songs composed and written by the students rendered by Shankar Mahadevan. Youngsters inclined in their area of interest need a platform to showcase their music and MUST radio provides them with a platform.

You have partnered with Germany based Radiojojo for content?

To increase the content of international music, we have tied up with Germany based Radiojojo and are exchanging music and content. Also, we are trying to talk with radio stations in Australia and Canada for content. In India, we are talking with Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

When does Radio MUST go on air?

We started with a four hour broadcast, mornings 7-9 am and evenings 7-9 pm run completely by freelancers. Now, we have a team of freelancers, editors, producers and RJs, operators and technical staff who come in twice or thrice a week. Our strength is 20 people who multi- task and the university pays them a stipend on a weekly basis.

As we gathered momentum in terms of making the programmes, we added a slot in the afternoon from 1-3 pm. Later on, during the admission period, we gathered promotions of University departments, courses and tied up with institute providing distant education, going on air from 8 am to 3 pm, gradually going on air from 8 am to 9 pm. Radio MUST is the only CR in India to go on air for such a long time. We are planning to start night slots as well.

Do you have enough content for 13 hours?

Out of the total 13 hours, we have six hours of live broadcast and other hours are scheduled. Also we are open to exchange content with other CR stations as it helps us to reach out and also increase our content. Also, we mix the fresh content creatively with old content so that the listeners don’t feel bored.

Who are the RJs who host your shows?

Anybody who wants to go on air has to take a voice test and sit on live recordings with RJs. Then we put the RJ into co-host mode and then when you attain proficiency, you can go on air on your own. Many RJs coming here do not have any professional courses to their credit but over a period of eight to 10 days, they do a fantastic job. It’s the passion for radio that connects them even after they enter into the professional world.

Radio MUST is essentially a nursery for radio aspirants, there are people who have come here and learnt a lot of things and are working with other commercial radio stations. The overall setup, software and technologies here are like any commercial radio station. There is no age group for RJs on our station; we have students from the eighth grade who host a show, ‘Science hour’ on Saturdays.

Also, we have trained a couple of girls from nearby slums and on 1 December, World Aids day, we had four HIV positive girls on our show. These girls are undergoing training at our station now and would become jocks soon.

What is the radius of your reach?

In the suburbs, we reach areas like Sion, Matunga, Dadar, Vikhroli to Goregoan Aarey milk colony on the other end. In the western line, we are heard in areas of Bandra, Khar, Vile Parle, Santa Cruz, Chembur. We reach out to a radius of around 8-10 kms with good frequency in cars too. As a community radio, we have our drawbacks when it comes to reach but we are constantly working on the technicalities for better reach.

You have tied up with Tagg.in for your SMS service?

Tagg.in is a free SMS based networking site where we have created a MUST radio group. Started five months ago, we have an impressive subscriber base of 2000 registered members for our tags. Through Tagg.in, we send SMS alerts about the shows lined up and give out numbers to call and discuss issues. This helps us in attracting listeners and also creates a better connect with them.

You would also be extending your on air presence on the internet?

We are planning to launch a website where our content will be available offline. As live streaming is not allowed, we would have deferred shows which people can hear online. We would creatively mix the content where the listeners don’t have to listen to the same content repeatedly.

How do you fund the working of your station?

Mumbai University is funding us for two years and we have budget provisions for everything right from recurring budgets for paying stipend, hospitality, maintenance and working of the station. We would like to start selling our ad spots to sustain our radio station in the long run.

How do you plan to cash in on the permissible five minutes of advertising per hour?

Community radios are allowed advertising of five minutes, every hour which comes to 300 seconds every hour. We have 13 hours of broadcast, so we have 3900 seconds of advertising time to sell. If we sell 10 ads in an hour, it amounts to Rs. 100; accordingly it comes to 1000 rupees per hour resulting in revenue of Rs 13000 per day.

We plan to start airing ads from March, so that from the next fiscal year, we would try to get as many ads as possible.

Have you already started targeting advertisers?

We are in negotiations with a couple of advertisers and as a policy decision; the university has decided not to take ads from private coaching classes keeping in mind the ethos of the community as we are running a college radio. These policy decisions are made by our advisory committee headed by the Vice chancellor and Member Secretary of the Coordination Committee involved in the setting up of Radio MUST, Dr Neeraj Hatekar. We are prohibited from taking sponsorships from private parties but sponsorship from government and semi government bodies like NACO, postal services are permitted.

We didn’t push the advertising aspect earlier because we didn’t have a regular broadcast but now with 13 hours, we can do it. We have tied up with management students of various colleges where marketing students are selling spots for us.

How you compete with seven commercial FM stations in Mumbai?

It is not possible for a community radio to compete with a commercial FM radio. It is like a local cricket team competing with an international team and the only similarity is both are playing cricket. The audiences are the same but instead of competing we are providing a far better variation in content for the listeners from the songs played across all stations. Community radio is about creating creativity on airwaves.

What are the challenges of CR in India?

The key reason for failure of community radio is India is that people do not think of it as a social business and expect to earn money after the initial investment. Also, they assume that it is a one time cost where they invest for infrastructure and setting up a station but they are ignoring the daily working and maintenance costs. Community radios have to allot funds for initial two years and cannot expect ads till they establish themselves. Also packaging is of outmost importance to keep the listeners tuned to your frequency.

In Andhra Pradesh, CRs are doing well as all community radio stations of the state are linked with the Chief Minister through a hotline number; such a move is welcome in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.

What is the number of CRs in India today?

Now there are 35- 40 existing stations and lot more are in the pipeline. The main issues faced by these stations are lack of professionals, funds and understanding to sustain the medium. There would be 400 which would spring in the coming year but only 40 might sustain. Packaging of content should be dealt carefully according to the needs of the area.

What is the initial cost of setting up a community radio?

Mumbai University invested about Rs 2.2 million in setting up our radio station but the community radio can be set up in something between Rs 8,00,000 to Rs two million. Your infrastructure will depend on the investment, you can reduce the size of your equipment, studio, production rooms etc. but the drawback of investing less is when the station wants to increase broadcast hours; it will need money. The community cannot afford to invest in community radio time and again. So, they have to invest a decent amount initially and gradually ads to sustain the mediums will start flowing.

Is it difficult to acquire license for setting up a community radio?

Government is very clear with the guidelines, codes and procedures of setting up a community radio and it is a non-tedious process. Community radios today have been divided into educational institutes and NGOs. Getting permission for setting up CRS for educational institute is easy but granting the same for NGO is an issue as their funding is not transparent. Government is scared that the NGOs would use it for their personal propaganda and branding, so NGOs are not getting licenses easily. As the number of educational institutes applying for license has increased, the government has further fragmented it into private institutes, semi private and government institutes.

Are there frequency issues in Community radio?

The I & B Ministry issues licenses in consultation with the Department of Communication. The available frequency for CRs is 88 MHz to 108 MHz and it might be difficult to get a frequency as there are already existing frequencies. For example, in Delhi, Delhi University and JNU have to share the same frequency, so the slots are divided between them in the evenings and mornings. Such problems occur only in cities where many commercial players already exist.

What do you aim for in the coming year?

Now, we have a dedicated team that has stuck with us for a long time and also the university has supported us throughout. We aimed towards broadcasting for eight hours but successfully managed to air 13 hours daily. It has been a learning journey for us. In the coming year, we plan more and more live broadcasts. We have many concepts in mind like networking all the daily wage earners at different nakas and providing them to contractors as per the requirements. Our basic aim is to provide information and entertainment and produce as much as content as possible. Also, we would be targeting advertisers to generate revenues for sustainability.

Are you working towards setting up other community radios?

I am helping two other universities- Narsee Monjee and Xavier’s for setting up their radio stations.

e-web learning

While online music and art lessons are convenient, they cannot replace the process of one-on-one learning, says Anita Iyer.

In a world where investment advice and even medical opinions are being given on-line, can music or art lessons be far behind?
The proliferation of the Internet, enhanced band widths and falling costs of recording and uploading large files have opened up a whole new way of learning music or art on-line. In a sense this e-learning is putting the traditional Gurukul system of learning on its head.

As Neyveli Santana Gopalan, a prominent vocalist based in Chennai says, “Internet has changed the way music was perceived in older times. Due to the advent of Internet and its influence on our lives, the Gurukul system (Students coming to the Gurus) is replaced by Shishyakul (Gurus going to Shishya)”.

Today, the web world is over flowing with websites offering Carnatic music lessons by renowned vocalists and instrumentalists at nominal prices. Learning music lessons online comes as an advantage for both the learner and teacher as they can access music suiting their busy schedules.

It is mainly the increased interest of westerners and distant learners which has boosted the concept of online music lessons, proclaims Mr. Suresh Vaidyanathan, a Ghatam maestro and a vocal artist who has 25 students varying from USA to Japan learning under him. Elucidating the concept of e- music learning, he says, “I record video clippings of 10 MB each and attach an Excel sheet with notations mentioned in it and mail it to my disciples throughout the world. As music needs to confirm with Taal and Sur, I specify the counts and beats of music in the rows and columns in the excel sheet”. “Normally, all my lessons are recorded with home video camera and are send via mail. But sometimes, the lessons are too big and breaking the continuity is meaningless so in such cases, I send across a CD or a DVD of my recordings via post”.

Talking about the profile of learners, Mr. Suresh says, “It is mainly the westerns who get influenced and fascinated by seeing the Indian classical performances abroad and develop a keen interest to learn the art form. As not many Indian artists are available abroad, they seek online music lessons as a mode to learn our music. Many NRIs learn Indian music because they want to establish themselves and want to prove that they are capable enough to hold a concert abroad”.

The period of learning music via Internet depends on the receptivity, capacity, the time spent by each student for practices and sincerity in his approach while learning.

Anant Padmanaban, a NRI based in United States who takes online lessons for Mandolin instrument says, “It was about four years ago that I got inclined towards the musical instrument Mandolin on my visit to Chennai. I took some basic lessons in mandolin for a week from Guru Gopalakrishnan based in Chennai and on my return to United States, I continued to learn music by taking online lessons”. “The only problem that amateurs face while learning music lessons online is understanding the basics. So if you are clear with the basics, learning further lessons via mail is like distant learning and is not that tedious a job”.

There are many online websites providing lyrics and video clips of bhajans, geetams, Swarajatis, Varnams of Carnatic music, one of them being http://www.karnatik.com/, http://www.indiamusicinfo.com/ and many musical videos are also uploaded on http://www.youtube.com/

Bharat Subramanium, Director, http://www.indiamusicinfo.com/ says, “Here at indiamusicinfo.com, we aim to impart knowledge and to make the learners understand the true values of music and to bring them up to the level of performing”. “Music cannot be learnt by reading the musical notes from website and to achieve excellence, there has to be a backing from a learned Guru. So, on our website we have added video clips by renowned vocalist Neyveli Santana Gopalan and also mentioned the lyrics for the classical songs for easy learning”.

“At the moment, we only have vocal Carnatic music listed up but have not thought about musical instrumental lessons as there are many constraints attached to it. One of it being the bandwidth and the fingering moves involved in playing the instruments”, reasons Mr. Bharat.

Neyveli Santana Gopalan whose videos are uploaded on http://www.indiamusicinfo.com/ says, “My music classes are recorded by the website people and later uploaded on their website -http://www.indiamusicinfo.com/ from where these video clips can be downloaded at nominal prices. One advantage that comes along with online lessons is the learner can listen to it at his own convenience”.

Chandresh Kudwa, one of India’s best rock and blue guitarist recently launched India’s first interactive guitar lessons website- http://www.theguitarthing.com/. Talking about his website he says, “In my website I have taken care of basics like how to hold a guitar, anatomy of a guitar etc. The website has a series of lessons varying from beginner’s guide to advanced levels to attain higher proficiency levels”. In www.theguitarthing.com, the guitar lessons are prerecorded in a video clips focusing on the moment of the fingers on the strings for amateurs to learn. These video clips can be downloaded via credit cards at nominal prices of Rs. 10 and Rs. 20 per lesson.

“Learners often clear their concept by mailing me down their queries and I respond in my best possible way. So, there is a one to one interaction between me and subscribers of video in my website”, he says.

http://www.playpianotoday.com/ is an online piano learning website which teaches people to play keyboard by the technique of Rhythmic patterns without the need of a written music sheet. Music is learnt by hearing to the beats and seeing the moments of the fingers on the keyboard in the video available on the website.

Learning online can be a challenging task for freshers, believes Mr. Suresh. Recollecting one such incident, he says, “I remember once a student based in Europe who was interested in taking online lessons in Ghatam. I provided him with all the required materials and also video conferencing but after a span of three months he still insisted that he was not very comfortable with playing Ghatam. I later discovered that he was holding the Ghatam in a wrong position and so I ended up rendering him a half an hour clip on how to hold the clay pot! Any one who has a fair idea of music and have witnessed the concept of music can learn the lessons online”.

In spite of the conveniences offered, one of the grave problems with online teaching is the connectivity. While learning art, any form of distortion is disturbing and many a times connectivity poses a problem while learning online. The second problem is rectification of errors as there is no direct interaction between the learner and the Guru. “I keep sending lessons via mail and rectify their queries and mistakes through chats but to make sure the disciple is moving the right way, I insist that they mail me video or audio file of them performing and give a feedback”, says Mr. Santana Gopalan.

Although, there are many takers to online music, there are some who think otherwise. Anandi Rajan, a Tanjore painter says, “Online lessons shelves to bridge the distance between the Guru and the disciple, but there is nothing like direct learning. Through my online site there are many IT professionals who can learn crafts work. But for traditional art forms like Tanjore paintings it is advisable to learn the fundamentals of the art form to understand the intricacies involved in it. By learning online, it is not always possible to rectify mistakes and provide suggestions. Any traditional art form be it Carnatic music, learning musical instruments or paintings has a set of predetermined rules which cannot be taught online and direct learning is essential. Although, online learning is a boon for people who want to excel any art form after knowing the fundamentals ground rules of it”.

Echoing similar thoughts is Lalgudi Vijaylakshmi, a prominent violinist and a vocalist based in Chennai who says, “Learning lessons online helps only to a certain extent because you cannot learn the nuances properly. It is not possible to learn the finer aspects of music especially instruments and the learner cannot attain a proficiency level by learning online”

“Even I give online music lessons but I believe that it is better that the discipline is familiar with the Guru’s language and communication skills, the medium of knowledge becomes easy. Though studying online is the only tool for many to learn Indian music, it is essential that the learner clears his basics and meets the Guru once in a while for better communication”, she says.

Knowledge can be transferred by any means but there should be a spiritual connection between the disciple and the Guru, believes Santana Gopalan. “Even though, learning online is a convenient way, nothing is comparable to direct interaction between the learner and the Guru. There are secret techniques to enhance any art form, which the Guru may not be willing to share online”, concludes Mr. Santana Gopalan.

It can be undoubtedly said that online music lessons have definitely drawn more music lovers towards Indian music and works as a bridge for Carnatic music admirers abroad. However, it cannot be argued that it is impossible to learn music simply by reading notations, there has to be an understanding of lyrics and nuances can be imbibed only by personal learning. Online learning is a tool of convenience but cannot replace the process of one to one learning

Sudharshan Patnaik, winner of several international awards, who has left his footprints on the sand globally with gigantic sand sculptures, shares a moment with Anita Iyer.

1. Tell us something about your childhood. Did you visit the beach often?
I was born in the coastal town of Puri in Orissa. It was a part of my routine to visit the Puri beach almost every day and I loved to play with the sand on the shore. Like every child I used to like making sand castles and later I began making small idols of gods and goddess using my imagination. I soon realised I could do something better than this and popularise the vanishing art of sand art. This form of art has its root in the Orrisan myths and I wanted to revive sand art.

2. Could you throw some light on the Orrisan myth you are referring to?

Although it is not historically proved, it is believed that the origin of sand structures goes back to the time when poet Balaram Das, the author of Dandi Ramayan, was not allowed to climb the annual rath yatra chariot of Lord Jagannath. He was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath and as he wasn’t allowed to offer his prayers to the idol on the chariot, to release his frustration, he made a sand sculpture of the Lord on the beach. Lord Jagannath was so pleased with his devotion that the original statue from the chariot disappeared and the sand structure was transformed into a real idol. So, it is since then that sand statues are made in Puri beach in Orrisa. The period that we are referring here was the 14th century A.D., so the origin of sand art can be traced a few centuries back.

3. How did you develop this art form?

Whenever I used to go to the beach during my teenage days, I would end up making sand statues from the golden sand. There was no limit for my imagination and I loved making structures on the huge sand canvas. There was a constant urge within me to give this diminishing art an international exposure.

4. Could you explain the process of making sand sculptors?

To make any sand sculpture, the basic raw materials required are fine sand and water. The sand sculptures are made on the shores of the beach where there is flow of water. A sketch is drawn beforehand and at least 15-20 people are required to make a huge statue. Often, a few adjustments need to be made in the original sketch, as sand cannot always be moulded the way we want. In case of coloured statues like Santa Claus made for Christmas, sand is mixed with colours and it is a tedious process, which takes about a month.

5. Tell us about the Golden Sand Art Institute at Puri beach.

Golden Sand Art Institute is an open-air institute on Puri Beach started by me in 1994-95. I started this institute with the aim of developing sand art as a professional art form. There are about 70 students now learning the art of sand sculpture under me in this institute. It is also due to the boom in tourism that this art form has received international exposure and many tourists who travel to India also desire to learn the art of making sand statues.

6. How different is it to create sand sculptures on the beaches of India and abroad?

Internationally, people are more curious to know the technique of making sand statues. Initially, they were amazed by the concept but now that they are aware of it they come forward to learn the art. In our country, there are many people who are involved in making sand sculptures now so the curiosity is fading but hundreds of people do flock to have a look at the art.

7. All the themes you pick up are sensitive. What is your message to the world?

I do believe that sand art can be a powerful medium to convey any message. I have worked on themes like wildlife, terrorism, creating awareness about HIV AIDS, and world peace. As a part of our sand institute, we make a new statue each day with themes on current affairs. Just recently, following the racism controversy in cricket, we made an innovative piece on it.

8. You have won many international awards...

It feels great to have represented India in all these international competitions. Receiving all this fame makes me think that I have finally achieved what I wanted - to popularise this art form. About a decade back, there weren’t many sand artists, but today I can proudly say that there are more than 1,000 artists in India who are taking up this art form as a serious profession.

9. What do you aim to do further now?

My aim is to create awareness and enthusiasm among the people. Whenever, I travel abroad, I hold workshops and demonstrations to educate the people there. I wish to include sand art as a regular curriculum in the schools of art and culture.