Celebrated Indian lyricist and poet Gulzar and classical vocalist Ajoy Chakrabarty unite this week to pay tribute to artistic legend Rabindranath Tagore, with two performances as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival.
Here is all you need to know about these singular talents.
Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore is a monumental figure in world literature – as evidenced when, in 1913, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Writing extensively during a five-decade career, Tagore’s poetry and novels were widely translated and acted as an influential bridge both in and out of India, exchanging ideas and ideals on art and philosophy with the wider world.
Less well known is the fact that Tagore – who was born in 1861 and died in 1941 – left behind a body of musical work that included more than 2,000 songs, many of them in traditional raaga and taala forms.
In his Bengali verse, Tagore tackled themes of aspiration, joy, sorrow and love – emotions that will be brought to life in Abu Dhabi through a mixture of his poetry and music.
Gulzar
Born Sampooran Singh Kalra, Gulzar is best known as the lyricist behind songs from dozens of Indian movies, but is also a renowned writer and poet.
His greatest international success came in 2009, when he was honoured with both an Oscar and a Grammy for co-writing A R Rahman's Jai Ho, the theme song from global blockbuster film Slumdog Millionaire.
Last year the 81-year-old national treasure was awarded India’s highest cinema honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He has also won a total of 21 Filmfare awards during his career.
But it would be a mistake to characterise Gulzar simply by his successful work in motion pictures. After getting his big break in movies in the early 1960s, Gulzar built on this success to carve an artistically fruitful parallel creative life on the page, experimenting with many written forms including poems, short stories and children’s books. In 2002 he was rewarded with the Sahitya Akademi Award for the Best Urdu Writer.
Gulzar has also written film scripts, ballets and TV serials, and directed movies. He is regarded as true auteur, who should be celebrated for maintaining the balancing act of both creative and commercial success.
During the Abu Dhabi performances, Gulzar will recite Hindi and English translations of Tagore’s work.
Ajoy Chakrabarty
Joining Gulzar on the stage in the capital will be renowned Indian classical vocalist Chakrabarty.
A legend in his home country, he also ranks among one of the nation’s best known talents internationally.
The stages he has graced include New York’s Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Centre, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.
The word “prolific” does not do Chakrabarty justice – he has more than 100 albums to his name, many of them released ed internationally. He works across genres, from traditional to contemporary, releasing albums from pure to light classical, including thumris, dadras, bhajans and other types of devotional songs.
Renowned for his versatility, Chakrabarty is comfortable singing in several languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Telegu, Persian and English.
Stylistically, his voice is able to subtly adopt the styles of song forms from across the country. This malleability can be traced to the breadth and depth of his stewardship.
The son of singer Shri Ajit Kumar Chakraborty, he was mentored by renowned Padmabhushan Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh, among a long list of other maestros.
At the Classics, Chakrabarty will perform a selection of Tagore’s compositions, including dhrupads, khayal songs, thumris, geet and songs based on Western tunes.
A Tribute to Rabindranath Tagore, tonight at Abu Dhabi Theatre, Corniche and Wednesday in Al Ain, both at 8pm. Ticket prices start at Dh80 (students Dh30) from www.abudhabiclassics.ae
