Homage to Kumar Gandharva

Two of the late Pandit Kumar Gandharva's students perform this weekend. Amarendra Dhaneshwar writes.

Two of the late Pandit Kumar Gandharva's students perform this weekend. Today, Vakola-based Satyasheel Deshpande, 61, who learned from the iconoclastic Gandharva for a quarter of a century, will perform in Prabhadevi. Meanwhile, tomorrow evening, V Mukul Shivputra, 57, Gandharva's son, performs in Matunga Road (W), in aid of a music academy that he plans to set up in Pune, where he lives.

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Deshpande will sing his own compositions, many of them in the mould of his guru's creations. Following his recital, Gandharva's renderings will be screened from the archives of Madhukar Bakre, a wealthy fan of Gandharava, who captured on film the maestro singing 104 compositions. Among them are likely to be Kahe Aab Tum Aaye Ho in the raga Sohini and Jhanan Jhanan Nana in raga Chhayanat.

Often described as a wayward genius, Shivputra evokes the image of a mendicant singer oblivious to the world. In the past, he had earned notoriety for not turning up for concerts he had agreed to give. But the Shivputra who will take the stage tomorrow comes in a refreshingly reformed avatar. Over the past year, he has rehabilitated himself in the minds of countless fans with a string of performances in Pune and other cities. Like his father, he is expected to sing a Kabir composition, and transport listeners to another world.

- Amarendra Dhaneshwar