Master Of Melodies

Shankar Mahadevan, who is now one of the most successful music directors in the Indian film industry and has four National Awards to his name, first became a household name in 1998, with the release of his solo album Breathless, whose eponymous track sounded exactly as advertised — it sounded like it was sung in one, unbroken breath. The remarkable thing was that this song, despite being a sort of gimmicky, performance piece, retained its classically-inspired melodious consistency. The important thing was not that the song was sung in one breath but that it sounded great. 

Over the years, great sound and an expert use of melody have become hallmarks of Mahadevan’s music direction, as well as his playback work. “You can’t compare the two,” Mahadevan tells Guardian 20. “Composing music is a process of creation, it’s like you are in a position of a mother, creating a baby. You are on top of the pyramid because you are responsible for that particular song. And when you are performing, you are the last medium of communicating to the audiences. The entire energy, the focus is on you. People are excited and enjoying with you — the whole performance is coming to life because of you. One just can’t compare both, they are equally beautiful. They are both related to music, so I enjoy doing both.”

The roots of this fascination with melody can be traced all the way back to his childhood, when he was four years old and first laid hands on a harmonium. That was when it all started. It was only after his graduation in computer science and software engineering in 1988, that Mahadevan began considering music as a serious career option. Then, a decade later, Breathless happened. And soon enough, Mahadevan began collaborating with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa, becoming a part of the music industry’s most original and multi-talented trio known as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. 

“It’s been like 20 years since we have been rocking together,” Mahadevan says of the trio. “This is a most wonderful relationship of making music together and coming up with stuff that has got musical value. We are in a very unique position— our bond is still very strong.” The creative differences among the three musicians lead to a healthy and competitive atmosphere inside the composing room or the recording studio. “Yes, we fight,” Mahadevan says. “We fight like hell when we are composing and it’s very good. Fighting is very healthy. The bigger picture is that we don’t fight because we have to split up; we fight because we have to make a better song.”

‘‘I have composed a lot of popular music in regional languages too, like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi. All these languages are very, very active. Whenever I used to go there, I used to wonder how I could bring all these languages, musical genres together.”

Mahadevan later learned both the Carnatic as well as Hindustani classical styles of music — a blend that we can perceive in his later compositions. He believes that there is still scope of experimenting with classical styles in film music. “In films,” Mahadevan says, “it is very difficult to explore classical music in its pure form because it gets a little heavy for people. Classical music, though, has been a kind of influence on our Indian film music from the very beginning. Especially for composers like Naushad Ali, and so on. And we as composers, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, have always felt our responsibility to acquaint the people of this country and elsewhere with Indian classical music through songs where we often put little doses of it. In songs like “Mitwa”, “Sapno Se Bhare Naina” etc. In these songs, you see glimpses of classical music, which I feel is very important. I think still more work can be done to familiarise our listeners to Indian classical music.”

Popular music in India is going through a phase of fruitful transformation, and it’s thanks to artistes like Mahadevan that things have come this far. “Change is the only constant thing,” he says. “You keep changing. Look at yourself, look at anyone — what you were 15 years back, you are not the same person. We are using different kinds of devices now, wearing different kinds of clothes. People around you are changing, the environment is changing, fashion is changing. So, the music industry is also changing. But if you have a great melody, beat, lyrics — I think this is what is going to stay the same forever.”

To make a great song, the composer has to be open-minded and receptive not just to his or her own traditions but to world culture. “In our Indian film industry,” Mahadevan tells us, “we have not only covered all forms of Indian music, but have also incorporated influences from all over the world — whether it’s Arabic or Spanish music, or a little bit of jazz or rock. I don’t know which musical style has not been explored here. But in every genre of music, we can explore and can go a little deeper and present a more aesthetic version of that form — for instance of jazz or folk or funk. It’s like an ocean. It’s endless.”

His new project, called My Country My Music, is built around the motif of Indian folk music. Here, Mahadevan presents glimpses of our rich musical heritage, through his collaborations with artists who belong to different parts of the country. “Indian folk music,” he says, “has always been the main source for film music. Right from the beginning, if you see there are so many songs which were influenced by Indian folk. Still, I feel we have a long way to go as far as exploring Indian folk music. If you go to every single state, their culture, their dialect has got its own folk forms and every occasion in this country has got a folk song associated with it. I think there is scope for more research on and more exposure to Indian folk music in films. We have to do that because this is our national treasure.”

The inspiration for this project came from Mahadevan’s own past work. He says, “I have composed a lot of popular music in regional languages too, like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi. All these languages are very, very active. Whenever I used to go there, I used to wonder how I could bring all these languages, musical genres together. There is not even a single show in the country which encapsulates all the different forms of music — folk songs, Bollywood songs, all put in together. I decided to device such a show, and that is called My Country, My Music.”

With the aim of taking Indian folk music a notch higher and reaching out to global audiences, this project aims to communicate the real spirit of India in a mix of some eight languages. The troupe has already performed at various platforms and shows across India.  

Mahadevan says, “I collaborated with some masters of folk music from different states, and presented them all together on one stage. The basic foundation of the show is very contemporary, modern. It will especially appeal to the youth. There are beautiful languages, beautiful singers from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala. So the show is designed in such a way.  It’s highly entertaining. It is musically, aesthetically a high-level show. After watching it, people will come to realise there are various kinds of music in our country.”