Every year, thousands of Warkaris undertake the Pandharpur Wari, an annual pilgrimage on foot to show their devotion to Lord Vitthal. This year, that 250-odd km journey will begin on July 8. But about 18 days before that, singer Rahul Deshpande will embark on a Wari of his own, through music and abhangs. In a chat with us, the singer speaks about taking the abhangs of saints from the Warkari tradition across the country, his tryst with acting, and why live shows cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence. Excerpts:
‘People aren’t entirely unaware of abhangs’
While abhangs are a mainstay of the musical tradition in Maharashtra, Rahul, through Abhangawari, is taking them beyond the state with shows in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Delhi, among other cities. Ask him if establishing a connect with abhangs with audiences in cities outside Maharashtra is a challenge and he replies, “You’ll be surprised to know how prominently abhangs feature in artistes’ performances. Artistes like Aruna Sairam, Ranjani-Gayatri and more incorporate them in their concerts. In Karnataka, there are Kannada abhangs. So, people are not totally unaware.” He adds, “At last year’s edition of this tour in Hyderabad, we had a packed venue with over 3000 people turning up to enjoy abhangs. Only about 30% of them were Marathi-speaking.”
‘Emotions flow through music’
What holds people together in a concert that banks on music and philosophical writings is predominantly the former. Rahul shares, “Music transcends boundaries and connects with the audience. The written word can create a language barrier but emotions flow through music.” But today, when attention spans are shrinking, has the relevance of classical music shrunk too? To that, the National Award-winning classical singer says, “I feel that good music always has an audience. If the emotion and melody reach the audience, they don’t really care about how long a performance is or any other thing for that matter. The same stands true for other works of art. Take the Dhurandhar movies for example. Both movies had an almost four-hour running time each and yet, kept people engaged throughout.” And what makes a live concert engaging? “Emotion, expression and how you handle the entire experience,” he says.
If a performer is good and can keep the audience engaged, be it a singer, instrument player or actor, it doesn’t matter how long they’re performing. It could be four minutes or four hours — Rahul Deshpande
On his acting journey
Having been part of films like Me Vasantrao, Amaltash and O’Romeo, Rahul has also proved himself as an actor. But it’s not something he consciously pursues. “Acting is not my priority but it’s something that interests me,” he says, adding, “Amaltash was a movie made by friends. I used to do audio blogs with the film’s director, Suhas Desale. We were to do a video blog which never happened but he later brought me a script and we made the film. Me Vasantrao was an ode to my grandfather, Vasantrao Deshpande, and was something that took its time to materialise.” But it was his recent outing that caught many off-guard. As a moustached cop in Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’Romeo, Rahul stunned many. “No one expected to see me like that,” he shares, adding, “Vishal ji asked me if I would audition for this role. I loved being part of the movie and working with the likes of Shahid Kapoor and Nana Patekar, who is like a father figure to me.” And will we see him on screen again soon? “Not right now. Music continues to be my focus. But if a role comes my way that I genuinely find interesting, I’ll do it,” he says.
On pop concerts turning into visual spectacles
With the pyrotechnics, multiple costume changes and big screens on stage, pop concerts today have become a grand spectacle. Rahul calls them a visual experience and says, “It’s not just an audio medium anymore. What Michael Jackson would do back then or Taylor Swift does today is what has seeped into concerts of Indian performers too, because we’re heavily influenced by western culture in all things.” Having said that, he doesn’t label the trend negatively. “I honestly feel that certain things work because they have something noteworthy. We should pick that thing up and move on,” he adds.
On AI in live concerts
A while ago, Sonu Nigam’s concert in the US, where he brought to life Mohd Rafi via AI, became a talking point. More recently in an interview with us, Lucky Ali said he had plans of using AI to do some sort of collaboration with his late father, Mehmood. Ask Rahul if he plans something like that and he replies, “I don’t have any such thing in mind but I would love to have my grandfather in the audience during a concert!” And his take on AI in live music? “I feel that in my lifetime, AI will not replace the live energy exchange that happens at a concert. It simply doesn’t have that warmth or emotion to do that,” he concludes.
