Horizon expands, Repertoire grows

She has 17 illustrious years in playback singing to boot and honours have come knocking at her doors often. After all, in her home state, Kerala, the name Gayatri Asokan strikes a chord with many. About half-an-hour of being with her for an interview reveals that what we have seen and heard about this versatile singer forms just an iota of her huge reservoir of talent. Literally, there is no looking back for Gayatri since her marital union with sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee.

It has been about eight months since Gayatri relocated to Mumbai with her musician husband. In the busy lanes of music and Mumbai, she is rediscovering herself, exploring the recesses left unseen. And after a while, she is on Sunday performing in her home state, at JTPac in Kochi.

In recent times, she might have not been that frequent in film music, yet music never ceasedto exist on Gayatri. She is the only female presence in Classicool, a concert concept of Purbayan featuring the creme-de-la-creme of Indian music scene.

With the likes of Shankar Mahadevan and Gino Banks, she has been singing, paving a path for herself in the national music scenario. “Though I have done and achieved much in playback singing, no one even knows my name in Mumbai.

“The ultimate is not to stay with playback singing till the end. The advantage of being in the national radar is, say, 1,000 times larger than the exposure we receive back home. I did not realise this when I was in my comfort zone. Because my husband is a sitar exponent and he performs with big names, he guides me. Classicool was formed two years ago aiming to bring classical and fusion music together,” says she.

Satyajit Talwalkar (tabla), Stephen Devassy (keyboard), Sheldon D'silva (bass guitar), Sridhar Parthasarthy (mridangam) and Rhythm Shaw (guitar) complete the picture.

Initial stages with the biggies of team Classicool scared the living daylights out of Gayatri actually. Early experience of singing along with Shankar Mahadevan had little impact on her to stay coolheaded on this occasion. “It was a nightmare for me to sing with them. Rendering fusion and improvised solo do not come so easy. It takes years of sadhakam to do on-the-spot improvisation,” she adds.

At the end of the day, there was little room for resentment as renowned musician Louis Banks himself heaped good words upon her. “On mic, he announced 'this is a singer to watch out for'. It was the greatest complement I ever had,” she rewinds.

That marked the beginning of many more accolades to come. Gayatri then got a stage when tabla ace Ustad Fazal Qureshi and Purbayan associated for a show. Three solos there won her the ticket to sing at a memorial concert in Pune in the name of Ustad Alla Rakha, father to Zakir Hussain and Fazal Qureshi. Classicool later visited China where she could sing at the Shanghai World Music Festival.

For the Kochi show, Gayatri offers a tribute to Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. This could be like a first and foremost way to experience the evergreen melodies immortalised by the two veterans. She goes unplugged to the accompaniment of Ralphin's piano, Rison's Flute and Sax, Ashwin's Guitar, Anand's Tabla and Yasir's percussion. “I am not presenting the original music. I'd say it is reinventing those songs with certain raga-based changes. And finally, bring about some twist with improvisation and rearrangement,” she explains.

Purbayan, engaged with his concerts in Toronto, couldn't join her for the show Celebrating Iconic Melody Queens happening at 7pm on May 14.

Gayatri, as of now, is fully engrossed in the making of her maiden solo ghazal album. Very soon, she'd slip into the busyness of shooting and singing of songs so that by July, the album could be out.

“One needs to be a creative musician and branch out from playback singing to have a longer shelf-life in music. Classical and ghazal music have the advantage that you sing for ever. Finally, what counts is how much you could rise up and establish one's own identity,” she winds up.