SOULful notes
For Suresh Wadkar, life-long student of music, and rasik, music is the sustaining factor. |
FOR SOMEONE who has been in the music industry for around two decades, the playback singer, Suresh Wadkar, is surprisingly free of airs and artistic temperament.
He was in Thiruvananthapuram recently, with his wife, Padma, to participate in the 'Gandharva Sandhya 2003'.
Says Wadkar, "I consider it a great honour to participate in a music programme organised in the name of Jesudas. I not only admire him, but also sing many of his songs in concerts. His mastery over notes is amazing and many of us call him Pandit Jesudas."
And, perhaps, to punctuate this, he breaks into Jesudas' popular number,
Gori teri gaon bada pyara... from the film, 'Chitchor'.
Simple and soft-spoken, Wadkar prefers his songs and music to do the talking for him and feels more at home in the world of notes, chords and rhythms. This is evident when he says, "My wife was my student and is 18 years my junior. However, all these divides were bridged by our deep interest in music. I often say that I am a son-in-law of Kerala, for my wife Padma is a Malayali from Ernakulam. She is the niece of the playback singer, Jayachandran. We sing duets at concerts."
He and Padma proceed to hum the lines of the hit song,
Megha re mehga re...
He says, "Though the music industry has prospered, I feel nostalgic about the golden numbers of the Fifties and Sixties. In Kerala, melody still reigns supreme, but you cannot say the same thing for all the new songs."
He feels that, contrary to what is widely believed, most music lovers still prefer to listen to melody and lyrics. "Take remixes, for instance. The belief is that youngsters prefer remixed songs, watch any music programme, but you will see them singing only melodious evergreen numbers," he points out.
For this talented singer, it has been a long and steady climb to stardom.
He says it was sheer coincidence that brought him into the music field. He had bagged the first prize in an All-India music competition conducted by a cultural organisation in Mumbai. The composer, Jaidev, who was one of the judges, declared that Wadkar would sing in his next movie.
However, his first song was under the baton of Ravindra Jain for Rajshri Productions. The song was a duet, S
ona tere jhilmiljhilmil... Wadkar's next number,
Seene mein jalen... , made his critics sit up and take note of this singer with a sonorous voice.
"I consider Lata
didi as
Ma Saraswati," he says. "I had always wanted to sing for her and one day, I did get the opportunity. Lata
didi liked my singing and called up some music directors she was working with and told them to give me a chance," he adds.
Wadkar's perseverance and hard work finally paid off. His songs for films such as 'Utsav', 'Sadma', 'Pardesi', and 'Parinda' firmly established him as one of the best in Bollywood. Wadkar attributes his achievements to God. "I believe music is a gift of God. A singer must have humility and devotion," he avers.
For Suresh Wadkar, life-long student of music, and
rasik, music is the sustaining factor.
SARASWATHY NAGARAJAN
Edited by Qwest - 16 years ago