Prantick Majumder, New Delhi: The task assigned to him by his father was not an easy one. It meant giving a new lease of life to an instrument that was about to become part of history.
As he looks back now, Pt Shivkumar Sharma, santoor maestro, however, is happy that the instrument has got the recognition his late father dreamt of.
"Life has been very satisfying. It was my father's dream that the santoor should get recognition. It was his dream that I become as famous as Ustad Bismillah Khan. What I am today is because of him. His dream has come true," Panditji told PTI.
"At a concert in Barcelona a few years ago, I was totally engrossed in my performance, when I was disturbed by the sound of a tanpura going off key. I looked up to see what was going on when my eyes fell on the audience. All the audience were Spanish and, in my opinion, were new to Indian classical music. But what astonished me was that everyone had their eyes closed, as though they were meditating, and there was pin drop silence. I felt as if I had achieved everything in life." Panditji was speaking on the sidelines of the premier of a documentary 'Antardhwani', on his life and achievements, directed by renowned theatre director Jabbar Patel. The film is based on Panditji's biography, 'Journey With a Hundred Strings', penned by Ina Puri.
The film includes shots of Panditji playing the santoor in the valleys of Kashmir, interviews of his contemporaries like Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pt Jasraj, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Yash Chopra and his son Rahul, a santoor maestro himself.
Pandit Sharma is all praise for his son Rahul, who has carried on the legacy of the santoor.
"Musicians are not created. It is inborn, a gift of God. It is not necessary that sons and daughters of musicians should become so ultimately. I never forced Rahul to learn music. But his experiments with fusion music led Richard Clayderman to play Indian classical music for the very first time. I am happy that Rahul is not neglecting classical music," says Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Panditji also spoke on his experiments with Indian film music. "The concept of movie music has changed over the years. But I see no difference between music in commercial cinema or in parallel cinema," he says.
"When Yash Chopra asked me and Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia to compose music for 'Silsila', viewers thought he was taking a big risk by signing classical musicians, but later they liked it. People also liked the music for 'Lamhe', 'Chandni' and 'Darr'. I am thankful to God we could do something that was liked by the masses." Speaking about his documentary, Panditji said it was great to work with Patel as he is extremely knowledgeable about music. "It was a wonderful experience as I never had to explain what was raaga, taal and alaap," he says.
Ina Puri, author of Panditji's biography, says, "Shivji is so engrossed in his music and it is an absolute visual pleasure watching him play. We are here today, gone tomorrow. So it's necessary to archive whatever we have for our future generations, in these times of turmoil." "To do a film on a personality so warm was an enriching experience. The film shows the entire journey of the personality," says Jabbar Patel, director of the documentary, who is also known for directing Vijay Tendulkar's 'Ghashiram Kotwal' and the critically-acclaimed 'Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar'.
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma has attained international status but he still does not plan for the future. "I live in present. I live with music all the time. I am not a legend, I am still a student of music," he says.
--- PTI
