Had heard some of Parthiv's singing earlier on, but somehow lost track of it, now looking back it him from a SRGMP POV, if you listen to his renditions in the following clips, I feel(personal opinion) I have not seen a more polished singer in SRGMP till date(in C2005, EMET or Lil Champs) (sorry Vinit, Sharib, Debo , Hema or Nihira fans)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97tFFoYK4ZY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HNR7b-gLQZY&mode=related& search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XrQubGryReA&mode=related& search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISYzlIwFYyw
I am not much of a review writer, but borrowed this review from
http://www.kavitachhibber.com/main/main.jsp?id=arts-May2006
Parthiv Gohil:
Bhavnagar to Bombay - A Musical Journey
By Kavita Chhibber
I first heard Parthiv Gohil in the mega finals of Saregama which is a competition between all the winners of Saregama series, so it's a very tough competition. Gohil hit the limelight when he won the finals singing very difficult classical numbers originally sung by Ghulam Ali Khan and Amir Khan the classical music legends of yesteryears, and so effortlessly that he floored Pandit Jasraj who was one of the judges. Parthiv hasn't looked back since then.
I saw Parthiv a couple of times at charity concerts hosted by the NGO, Pratham - the long Bandish he performed to western orchestration in rag Ahir Bhairav, stunned all of us. His voice soared to amazing heights and every note was crystal clear - a very difficult thing to do through such a prolonged period of time. It got him a spontaneous standing ovation lasting several minutes.
Today the small town boy from the non musical town of Bhavnagar in Gujarat has been a great inspiration for others. In fact Bhavnagar has now churned out so many artists and musicians that it is being referred to as Kala Nagri. (The city of arts).
Parthiv does not come from a musical family though his paternal great grand father an affluent businessman used to hold cozy concerts with his friends. Both his grandfather and father though businessmen loved music. When Parthiv was born, his father would switch to the Indian classical channel on the radio and place it next to his son in the hope that he may develop an ear for music at a young age.
'So instead of listening to lullabies I heard classical renditions of various maestros. My father had made up his mind that if I showed any talent for music he would enroll me in music lessons. He would take me to various classical concerts when I was young to see how I would respond."
Parthiv loved music but did not limit himself to just Hindustani classical music. "I was fascinated by western music and realized how different jazz, symphony and pop for example sounded from each other. I would make tapes at my friends' homes and listen to western music on my walkman trying to figure out the music arrangements, fascinated by how the same seven notes can come up with different sounds."
Parthiv did his Bachelors, while studying under his guru Lakshmipati Shukla who is a disciple of Pt. Omkarnath Thakur. Growing up Parthiv admits that he wasn't always serious and would often play truant teaching his friends film tunes on harmonium while his guru would be yelling at him to come back and finish his lesson in classical music. He also taught himself the guitar.
The turning point came when under the auspices of Spicmacay, a non profit organization focused on encouraging Indian classical music and cultural awareness among youth, Parthiv went on a 24 day trip to Bhopal, to learn from Zia Fariddudin Dagar, the dhrupad maestro. The teaching was done in the traditional guru-shishya parampara, where the teachers' word was final.
"Ustad ji would wake us up himself at 5 a.m., tune our tanpura and teach us for a few hours. After a short break the training would resume. It was a very intense period and he handled my voice which had just broken with such gentle finesse and molded it so beautifully- I realized I had been lost until then. Bhavnagar was not known for its musical heritage and I wasn't even sure if I was going to pursue music seriously, but after those 24 days, I knew I was going to devote my life to music. To this day whatever I sing is rooted deeply in what I learnt in those 24 days."
Parthiv was also able to spend time with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, traveling with him on a tour and learning as Pandit ji did his practice. "Pandit ji is so loving and kind. I would sit lost in the beauty of his music as he rehearsed learning ragas from him. Pandit ji would invite me on stage and asked me to either sing or explain a piece that he had played and my explanation or my singing would be greeted with applause and that was very encouraging."
Parthiv started participating in various state level and national competitions but his big break came when he decided to audition for saregama. "I had sent a tape of my songs which were all classical numbers but was called to audition a year later. It took 2 years from the time I sent my tape to the time I appeared in Saregama and won, In fact it had become a joke in Bhavnagar that I was telling tall tales because it took forever for my show to be aired."
Parthiv says the one year gap between the audition and the actual contest was a big help. It was during that time he spent each day listening to all the film songs and singers and memorizing those songs. Parthiv says he received great encouragement after Pandit Jasraj was bowled over by his performance and host singer Sonu Nigam too was very encouraging. Parthiv got to host the Gujarati version of Saregama and that also helped in bringing him to the limelight.
Today the singer has moved to Bombay and made it his base, sung for the likes of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ismail Darbari and with his fusion band Akriti created and presented some fabulous shows.
He has not let success go to his head and attributes it to God's grace. "I know this is a tough line, but somehow doors have just opened for me. I knew no one in Bombay but now I have my own band and everything I have done has been appreciated and encouraged. I hope to keep doing good work and coming up with good shows and albums."
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