Amplifying folk tales at Rajasthan International Folk Festival

The Rajasthan International Folk Festival, Jodhpur, has established itself in less than a decade for being a quality-driven event that has its focus firmly on the folk ethos. Festival director Divya Kumar Bhatia speaks of the gambles RIFF has taken in maintaining an uncompromising stance on the music, most of which have reaped huge dividends for the festival.

He’s played Amitabh Bachchan’s doctor in Yudh and Imran Khan’s father in Delhi Belly. He’s a name to reckon with in the Mumbai festival circuit what with being associated creatively with events like the Prithvi Theatre Festival and Celebrate Bandra among others. He has a Masters degree in Tabla, listens to anything from classic rock to EDM and effortlessly breaks into Kesaria Balam to elucidate his point. His passion for the arts is both overwhelming and inspiring, but Divya Kumar Bhatia’s greatest contribution to the arts scene in India is his association with Jodhpur’s Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF). There’s been an explosion of music festivals across the country over the past three years but RIFF has always stood out. And its eighth edition that runs from October 8 to 12 this week promises to deliver the same quality of music it has so carefully honed over these years.

There are a lot more opportunities and many more patrons to support the burgeoning festival circuit. But sustaining it without compromising on the music is one of the toughest acts for promoters. Bhatia has taken many gambles with RIFF, and to his greatest advantage, most of them have paid off. Looking back, he says, “I’ve never wanted people to come to RIFF for the wrong reasons. I’ve dabbled with a lot of media. As much as I can work with folk artistes, I can also work in Bollywood. There’s space for everything to coexist with unique audiences for each. I have no morality when it comes to the arts. That said, I believe RIFF has largely managed to bring in people purely for the music. We do not advertise our festival…we only have announcements for discounted tickets! So while I cannot and will not even try to control the kind of audience that comes, it is a huge testimony to the festival if the fundamental focus even for the audience has largely been more about the music and not just about having a good time.”

Bhatia prides the festival for being firm about not bowing to media or sponsor pressures that are par for the course, about the presence of Bollywood celebrities. He has his own friends in the Mumbai film industry and reiterates that he isn’t one to cock a snook at film stars attending RIFF. “Like I said, the audience isn’t in my control. There will be music lovers who happen to be film stars too. But they won’t be there because they’re film stars. I can, however, control the quality of content and in that regard, I’m very glad that the integrity of the programming has remained intact. We’ve taken a lot of risks there. When we started our dawn concerts, for instance, there were about 20 people. Today not only do other festivals have similar concepts, but even our audience has risen to 200-250. Our midnight concert is also a huge hit. Staged outside the Mehrangarh fort but with the fort firmly in the backdrop, these acoustic midnight sessions have been a huge draw. Moonlit, with no mics, the midnight concerts are a completely different experience,” he says.

Probably one of the biggest gambles taken by Bhatia, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust and the Jaipur Virasat Foundation has been the unwavering determination to introduce new and unheard of artists, nationally and internationally. If RIFF has year after year put out largely unknown local artistes, there’s no reason the brains and hearts behind the festival would change the rules for the foreign talent. “Internationally, we usually bring down artistes who understand the ethos of the festival. So many of them write in saying that they want to be a part of it. Our focus has always been to create names and not bring down people simply because they are hugely popular. And that is something we’ve never compromised on. In 2007, we put together the Manganiyar performance. They weren’t in a band together or something. Outside of Rajasthan people hardly knew them. But over the years there’s been Roysten Abel’s Manganiyar Seduction and the 2014 edition of Coke Studio had about 14-15 Rajasthani artistes, all of whom have emerged from the RIFF stage,” Bhatia says, with a hint of pride.

And proud he should be. Until RIFF, there was no real conversation about folk music among people who have no association with the genre. Even the mainstream English media has only sporadically written about folk music or artistes. “The fact that today musicians want to be a part of this festival means it is not just about the audience but about the artistes too. Nothing ranks higher than the validation that comes from one’s peers,” Bhatia says.

This year’s lineup includes Fazal Qureshi (tabla), Dilshad Khan (sarangi) and Mahesh Vinaykram (vocals), a performance by Yemen Blues that will bring sounds combining Yemenite, West African and Jazz influences to Christine Salem’s vocals, Malick Pathe Sow and Bao Sissoko; Manganiyar of Marwar and Scotland’s “acid-croft” Shooglenifty with Rajasthani artists. Also set to illuminate the coveted RIFF stage are the Sikar Gharana, Rajasthani Sufi singers, Bhanwari Devi, Rajasthani Maand and Jangda; Joseph Tawadros on oud, James Tawadros on rik collaborating with the legendary Ross Daly and Kelly Thoma and Ghevar Manganiyar.

Bhatia is immensely satisfied with the way the collaborations have worked. “People call us a boutique festival or a handcrafted one. I like that. It goes to show that the artistes we put together have worked their magic on those who’ve attended the festival. Today some of these collaborations are even travelling by themselves. Today some folk artistes even have managers! That’s how much the festival has impacted the folk scene in Rajasthan. We’re not philanthropists, we’re promoters. And if our platform is helping an artiste beyond the three-four days of being at our festival, I’d say it’s a job well done,” he smiles.