MusicalNirvana - Articles on Ronu Majumdar

Articles on Ronu Majumdar

Taken from Rashmi Vaish's interview in Times Of India, 1998
Reproduced here for educational purposes only

Flute song

In the context of today's musical environment where it seems that it's more the flash and dash that counts, it proves rather difficult for a subdued classical musician to make his mark. While at one level it's about moving with the times and the changing definition of what is popular, at another, it's a question of quality and tradition.

Ronu Majumdar though, flautist from the Maihar gharana who composed the music for Koi Akela Kahan which was released recently, doesn't feel at all discouraged. In fact, if you ask him, he's having a great time. "Classical musicians are very contented," he says. "Most of them are not after money. After all, it's what you want to do and what you like to do. Also, if everybody thinks materially, then who will save our tradition? And in any case, now there are so many opportunities available to us."

Which, of course, is not to say that classical musicians make money overnight. "We don't make money like pop stars do and we don't get rich and famous overnight. But we love our tradition and we love our music. And we want to be in it, whatever the difficulties."

Part of those difficulties lie in the kind of music that seems 'acceptable' in the Indian market. Majumdar, however, feels that it is the musician's prerogative to present the listener with good music. "It's up to us what music we present to the public," he says. "If we give them a particular kind of music, that's what they will listen to. We, as musicians, have the power to change the trend."

And to him, the current trend is not acceptable. "I can also compose the so-called Hindi pop of today," he says, "but this is not pop according to me. Pop is where there is some kind of harmony. If you listen to Stevie Wonder, you get a purity. Not that you just repeatedly sing some line which has no meaning. It has to be real music. If you are using western elements, you have to know what they are."

That's how he is able to compose fusion with international artistes. "I have learnt western classical music and so when I play with western artistes, I understand their language," he explains, "I can relate to them. Because otherwise, as they say, fusion is confusion."

His international career and experiences with fusion, or world music, began in 1991 when he started touring with his grand-guru, Pandit Ravi Shankar. Since then he has played with a variety of international musicians from countries like USA, Russia, France and the Middle East. More recently, he recorded an album with guitarist Ry Cooder and trumpet player Jon Hassell in Santa Barbara. One of the tracks, Wide Sky, on the album (as yet unnamed) is also being used as a part of the motion picture soundtrack Primary Colours.

In the meantime, he still continues his efforts in his own field of the classical flute and, in fact, has improved on the instrument to arrive at a three-and-a-half foot long Shankh bansuri which he uses in his classical performances. The idea is to allow the flautist to play notes in the lower octave which prior to this, he claims, was not possible.

And so he makes an attempt to balance the traditional and the contemporary to arrive at a new sound in a rather cut-throat market which measures success more by sales and glamour than real musical talent. And as with all artistes, it is his talent and devotion to music that will have to hold true above all else.

Taken from an article in Indian Exress, 2000
Reproduced here for educational purposes only

A score above the rest

The year: 1991. The occasion: flute festival to honour four legendary flautists. The venue: Malhar Rao Kulkarni's music college in Borivali. "The organisers had asked four disciples of the maestros to play for one-and-a-half-hour each. I was given the last slot. When I finally took my position, the audience was restless, some had left, some were about to leave. Others were disgusted that disciples, and not their gurus, were asked to perform that too for such a long duration. I was very nervous and took some time to settle down. As I started playing, the murmur died down, people on their way out returned to their seats, the sounds of disturbance gave way to sounds of appreciation." And after ten years of struggle and extreme hard work, bansuri player Ranendranath Majumdar, otherwise known as Ronu, had arrived.

His formal initiation into music had, however, begun when he was a child of five. Born in Benares in an environment echoing with the sounds of music the first sound that reached the ears of Ronu Majumdar was that of the flute. It soon became his favourite toy. He could spend hours on it trying to find out what sounds it could make. From the time he was about five years old he had already started taking lessons from his father, Dr Bhanu Majumdar, who was the disciple of Pandit Pannalal Ghosh pioneer in using the flute for folk and classical music.

In 1973, when he landed in Mumbai as a 10-year-old, he began learning Hindustani vocal from legendary vocalist late Pandit Laxman Prasad Jaipurwale. The association lasted six fruitful years during which Majumdar continued to practise and play the flute. "Though I was singing well, Pandit Jaipurwale realised that my love for the flute went beyond everything."

At Jaipurwale's insistence, Majumdar started learning the intricacies of playing the bamboo flute from Padmashri Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao.

"Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao is my main guru and Pandit Ravi Shankar is my grand guru," he says. His experiences with Pandit Ravi Shankar have gone a long way into making him one of the country's leading bansuri player. "When I toured with him to Moscow for Festival of Music, I learnt a lot from him.

After playing in his orchestra, I realised the importance of having a pure soul to create my music with." Ravi Shankar's involvement in fusion music especially impresses Majumdar who has himself cut fusion albums with the likes of guitarist Ry Cooder, Grammy winner Vishva Mohan Bhatt, pianist Christian and others.

His main desire is to put the bamboo flute or the bansuri on the same plane as sitar or tabla. "I want to make the bansuri as much popular. It irks me that the bamboo flute is most often termed as the Indian flute. The sitar is not called the Indian guitar nor is the tabla called the Indian drum.

I think the main reason for this is that we don't have too many flute playing maestros, no one to take it outside and popularise it like Ravi Shankar has the sitar and Zakir Hussain the tabla. I wish to change this." When the music for Hollywood film Primary Colours which received a Grammy nomination -- was released, Majumdar insisted that his name come under bansuri and not Indian flute.

Also known as fusion creative artist, Majumdar's invention, shank (shell) bansuri, is getting popularised around the world. "I first played this three-and-a-half feet instrument in 1993 and received a lot of criticism for it. I was told that no flute can have shank in it. I agree with the criticism but I named it thus because I was inspired by the sound of a shell when I created it. It produces a deep hollow sound and can play low octave which is otherwise impossible. This bansuri helps me play phrases which I earlier could not because of the limitation of the bamboo flute." Majumdar's latest album Ethereal Rhythms in which he is accompanied by Ustad Zakir Hussain on the tabla has received rave reviews for its sweet soulful sound.

However, the artiste is a trifle disappointed that an impending album with Remo Fernandes did not materialise: "Remo and I had played together in a private function last year. We vibed so well that those present were stunned. There were talks of doing an album together but somehow things fizzled out. But I am optimistic that Ronu and Remo will get together and make the album a reality."

Few may know that during his years of struggle Majumdar played in the orchestra of Bollywood music director R D Burman. "I needed the money and I enjoyed playing for him. Later, when I became very busy, Burman used to wait for me to dub a phrase or two for his music." In fact, Majumdar nurses a desire to score film music. "I am looking forward to compose for a film.

Till now I have only got offers for horror films! But I am not afraid of approaching the concerned persons and create music for a film or two."