Great Article bro .... On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 9:20 PM, Vithur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > http://www.screenindia.com/news/-I-am-very-strict-about-my-riyaaz--/390449/ > > > *Music runs through her veins, as Runa Rizvi is the daughter of famed > ghazal singer Rajkumar Rizvi and singer Indrani Rizvi. She has now entered > the playback fray* > Runa owes her new break in movies to A.R. Rahman, even though she is into > music since she can remember. She even has a small jazz band. How do ghazal > and jazz jell with each other? > > Runa says that both Indian classical and Western musical influences are > very strong within her. "If my parents are into Indian music, I have also > learnt jazz in New York for about five to six years. Back in India, I have > gone also into thumri and Sufiana music and learnt voice modulation, diction > training and workshops in classical music. As for my band, I sing the > classical songs and they do their job!" she says with that ready smile. > > The singer belongs to the Kalavant Gharana and has been trained in > classical, semi-classical and light classical music and is proficient at > ghazals, thumri, folk, Punjabi and Sufi Music, having started performing at > the tender age of six with her father and guru and training even earlier. > > But playback, says Runa, excites her. Classical training, she insists, is > the base of everything in music but while in a classical performance, an > artiste can even have an hour as creative space to improvise and show off > his skills, a song in a movie is decidedly more challenging. "You have just > four or five minutes," says Runa. "And in that short time you have to > deliver anything from a simple melody to a club number with all the musical > demands, expression, diction and emotions." She recalls her father's > closeness to the late Madan Mohan and others and his singing Laila Majnu do > badan ek jaan with Anuradha Paudwal and Preeti Sagar in the 1976 Laila > Majnu. > > Runa made her playback duet four years ago in her friend Sandesh > Shandilya's film Uff...Kya Jaadoo Mohabbat Hai! produced by Rajjat Barjatya > for Rajshri Productions. "It was a beautiful duet named Shukriya with Kunal > Ganjawala," says Runa. "I am grateful to the Barjatyas and Sandeshji for > thinking of me." Runa has also sung Jeene ka and Har kafan under Amar > Mohile's baton in Ram Gopal Varma's Contract. > > So how did Jaane tu mera kya hai come about with a combination as heady as > A.R.Rahman with Aamir Khan and Abbas Tyrewala? > > > > Smiles the singer, "I was called to sing all the alaaps and vocals for (the > background score of) Jagmohan Mundhra's Provoked - A True Story by > Rahman-sir. He must have liked my voice and singing, for in fifteen days he > called for me to record this song." The singer is delighted that after the > film's success, the song has been finally included in the movie on popular > demand. > And how did Provoked... happen? "I know someone from the music industry > whose judgement Rahman-sir trusts completely," she says mysteriously. > > The ghazal, says Runa, is in her blood. "My roots are so strong that > experimenting with Western and fusion to appeal to a wider and younger > audience will never compromise that foundation," she declares when I ask her > whether this Western influence will gradually seep in and affect her basic > skills." > > Western music has its classical and folk roots that are centuries old. So > why is the term 'contemporary' synonymous with Western music and > 'traditional' with Indian music? > > Smiles Runa, "Yes, I guess that is true of today. All I can say is that our > music is very intense, but because the patience level of the audience is > less now and the world is becoming smaller, the Western element has become > important." > > Among her career highs, Runa has also had the opportunity to perform with > and share the same stage with legends like Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, > Jagjit Singh and Mehdi Hasan. On February 17, 2006, she was introduced as > "The Young Maestro In Sufi Music" at the launch of the Indian Music Academy > and performed in the presence of former president APJ Abdul Kalam. > > Runa has also performed and worked with artistes like Leslie Lewis, Ustad > Sultan Khan, Abhijeet, Mahalakshmi and Jaspinder Nirula. Not only has she > performed internationally in U.K., USA and Canada, but she also conducts > regular workshops in Indian classical music with her father every year in > New York, Chicago, Washington and Toronto. She has also done shows with > Bappi Lahiri and sung on the album Catwalk with music by Bappa Lahiri. > > "I am very strict about my riyaaz," says the lady who has recorded a song > for Bapi-Tutul in The Flag and with A.R.Rahman again for Shyam Benegal's > Chamku Chameli and a film that for now cannot be mentioned. Pritam, Lalit > Pandit and Salim-Sulaiman are the other composers with whom she is working, > and there is also an album coming up. > > > > -- > regards, > Vithur > > > > >
