Prodigy on a string - Raghav sachar

R AGHAV SACHAR, 26, musician, compos- er and young man in a hurry, is so gifted that the National Geographic channel is featuring him in its forthcoming series called My Brilliant Brain, which will air from December 10. Because, it is said, he can play 24 different musical instruments. No, he tells me, in his Versova apartment. "That was the number when my album 24 Carat was released. Sub- sequently I have been playing a few more like the shakuhachi, a Japanese flute, the saxonet, which is a combination of the saxophone and clarinet and the zuzuk, a metallic wind instrument," he says. In fact, the tally now is 30. Sachar, who has scored the music (along with Julius Packiam) for Kabul Express and has three more Hindi films releasing in January, says he can play about 15 of the instruments in live performances and uses the others for his studio recordings. "It is not just the quantity but the quality and diversity that matter," says the young musician, sur- rounded by a guitar, an electron- ic drum set and a synthesiser at- tached to a computer with a gi- ant flat screen. Most of his other instruments are stacked inside two wooden cabinets attached to the wall in his studio. Clearly, he is partial to western instruments. "The dhol and dholak are among the few Indian ones that I play," he says. He doesn't care for the violin either. "I don't like its sound," he says. It was the sound of a chromonica (an advanced harmonica) that his fa- ther was playing that triggered in him the passion for instruments when he was four. Noting his son's curiosity, the senior police officer, then posted in Gwalior, bought him a small harmonica. One day, when the old Hemant Kumar number, Hai Apna Dil To Awara, was playing on TV, the four-year-old Raghav stunned his father by playing the tune effort- lessly on his harmonica. The family realised they had a prodigy in their midst and Rajinder Kumar Sachar bought his son half a dozen German harmonicas and a good quality keyboard to practise on. Raghav not only played them without anybody's help but demanded more instruments. They then struck a deal that Raghav would get a new musical instrument every year - next in line was an English flute - provided he did not demand anything else. Meanwhile, the family shifted to Delhi and Raghav, now seven, got his first music tutor in Carlis Demello of the Delhi School of Music. Demello taught him notations and enrolled him straightaway for the fifth grade exams of London's Trinity College of Music, which he passed with 87 per cent marks. At nine, he started playing the drums and began showing off his multi-tasking skills by playing the harmonica, bongo and drums simul- taneously. While his parents were excited with his skills, they were also wor- ried that he was neglecting his stud- ies. Raghav was sent to a Dehra Dun hostel for some time where they denied him his instruments except on weekends. Result: he ran away from the place and threatened to commit suicide. "Like all parents, we wondered what would happen to him if he didn't study well. But now I realise that if children are allowed to do what they like, they will excel in it," says his moth- er Usha. A case of the left brain (which is responsible for aca- demic skills), not as developed as the right (usually held responsible for musical abilities)? Not really, says Raghav. "Once, in the 11th standard, when I was chal- lenged by my chemistry teacher, I put away my instru- ments for three months and topped in the subject," he says. A lot of his time in school was taken away by his involvement in the band called Canzona, a hit on the IIT circuit. "The whole idea of people calling me a genius and applauding gives me a kick," says Raghav. After much debate, Raghav convinced his parents to send him to Australia's Monash University where he studied jazz music with the saxophone as his main instrument. "I worked so hard - I would play eight hours a day till I got dizzy," he says. He not only topped his class all three years but also won a scholarship that was specially created for him. He was also a member of five bands and performed all over South-East Asia. Moving to Mumbai after his studies, he brought out his first album, Raghav for the First Time, in 2003. Says Atul Churamani of Saregama India, pro- ducers of the album, "Raghav was playing the metallic flute when he was intro- duced to me by film composer Shan- tanu Moitra at a song recording with the Viva band. I was impressed that somebody so young could have so much talent. He is probably the only multi-faceted instrumentalist in In- dia. So we decided that we should showcase his talent in an album." Raghav teamed up with Sunidhi Chauhan, Mahalaxmi Iyer and Kunal Ganjawala for 24 Carat and a third al- bum, Play It Loud, is just out. But it is his film recordings that keep him busy. "If you hear the saxophone in any recent film songs, it is me play- ing 50 per cent of the time," he says. After Kabul Express, he has done the music for three films – Sunday, 1, 2, 3 and Haal-e-Dil – now under produc- tion. But his dreams go far beyond Bollywood. "I want to establish my presence by creating something that is worthwhile," he says. "And also cut an international album." [email protected] WHAT SACHAR CAN PLAY 1. Baritone saxophone 2. Tenor saxophone 3. Alto saxophone 4. Soprano saxophone 5. Sopranino saxophone 6. Piccolo 7. Pan flute 8. Metallic flute 9. Shakuhachi (Japanese flute) 10. Bamboo Flute (Bansuri) 11. Bass clarinet 12. Bb Clarinet 13. Didgeridoo 14. Harmonica 15. Chromonica 16. Guitar 17. Piano 18. Zuzuk 19. Saxonet 20. Drums 21. Dhol 22. Congas 23. Mouth harp 24. Recorder 25. Darabuka 26. Vibraphone 27. Marimba 28. Glockenspiel 29. Timpani 30.