With no (self-proclaimed or otherwise), authority to either comment on Bal Gandharva’s life nor any expertise in writing art reviews/criticism, I’m going to confine my thoughts around my experience of watching the newly released Nitin Desai movie and my views on its significance in today’s time.
My deep-seated passion for Indian classical music drew me to this movie made on the hugely popular Narayan Shripad Rajhans A.K.A. Bal Gandharva. A few months ago my father casually mentioned to me about an upcoming movie based on the life of Bal Gandharva, with songs sung by a very competent young artiste Anand Bhate, fondly known as ‘Anand Gandharva’. Although I didn’t know much about Bal Gandharva then, I was excited about Anand Bhate lending his voice. Being a huge fan of Bharat Ratna, late Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, I have been an avid listener of some of his disciples as well-- Bhate being one such prominent name. Thus began the wait for the release of this biopic to be made by the celebrated art director, Nitin Chandrakant Desai. Looking at Desai’s previous work, there was no doubt the movie would be nothing short of an opulent drama. And has Desai lived up to the expectation? Absolutely!
The movie finally released last week and I was sure I wanted to watch the movie before the end of the weekend. I wanted to catch it early and well before people started discussing it. I saw the movie with my grandfather and parents. All three generations had their own reasons for watching it. My grandfather had seen the popularity of Bal Gandharva during his younger days. My parents grew up on the stories (legends and fables as well!), of great stalwarts of Marathi ‘Natyasangeet’ like Bal Gandharva, Deenanath Mangeshkar, Keshavrao Bhosle etc. Raw curiosity, coupled with my musical leanings played a role in my watching the movie.
But I must confess I didn’t go into the movie theatre absolutely clueless about Narayan Shripad Rajhans. Before going for the movie, I spent a good amount of time reading up on the life of Bal Gandharva. I have seen numerous plays at the Bal Gandharva Rangamandir in Pune, but never realized the significance behind its name as much as I did while carrying out this focussed reading. This reading helped me better relate to the sequences portrayed on screen. Given the abundant reading material available on Bal Gandharva, I pretty much knew the crux of the subject and unknowingly even did a comparison between the sequences playing in my head with the ones projected on screen.
Ever since I found out about Nitin Desai’s plans to make a film on the life of Bal Gandharva, I have often reflected on the significance of making such a movie in today’s time. In the 21st Century, young Indians like me are slowly losing touch with the Indian classical music scene and our other artistic traditions. Marathi Natyasangeet too is suffering the same fate. A film that portrays a ‘Sangeet Natak’ (a musical play) at the backdrop of India’s freedom movement is extremely significant for today’s youth to know. Although not actively involved in the freedom struggle, Bal Gandharva’s plays solidly supported the freedom movement as well as the social movement. In an era when the Indian society is becoming increasingly dominated by blind aping of western culture, today’s youth is not familiar with the rich and strong bygone era of Marathi theatre. Nitin Desai’s efforts to resurrect the magnanimity (and simplicity at once!) of the man, so many of us have only heard of, are extremely commendable. I often feel disadvantaged to be born in an era where this art is only barely read about. The movie was more like watching a kaleidoscopic amalgamation of various plays of Bal Gandharva on the big screen.
My experience of watching this grand drama cannot be complete without mentioning Anand Bhate’s fine rendering of the ‘Gandharva Gayakee’ (style). Every time Subodh Bhave (the actor playing the role of Bal Gandharva) came on stage and started singing, it was impossible not to picturise Bhate himself singing on stage. The sheer amount of energy and dedication he has put into each song gave me goose bumps. It can be safely said that no other singer in the Marathi music industry today, was more suited to lend his background voice to the film as much as Bhate. Not mentioning about the actors who have brought life to the film will make this piece of writing incomplete- and there the list is long. Each one has done his/her best to be truthful to their characters. And Subodh Bhave has carried the role with dignity and élan!
The movie was an absolutely amazing audio & visual treat. Given an opportunity, I would love to watch the movie on the big screen once again. Anybody interested?
