Bickram Ghosh  

Sudha Ragunathan.   | Photo Credit: The Hindu

“Sudha Ragunathan? Well of course, anyone would jump at the opportunity. I know I did!” Bickram Ghosh laughs heartily as we begin chatting. He’s gearing up for a six-city tour, debuting some of his original works alongside tried-and-tested melodies.

The travelling performance that spans metros including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and finally Ghosh’s hometown Kolkata, kicks off in Chennai this weekend with a special guest: senior vocalist Sudha Ragunathan. Of course, it’s hardly the first time Ghosh has interacted with Chennai and its rich Carnatic music heritage.

Three decades ago, he made waves, collaborating with the likes of Guru Karaikudi Mani and G. Harishankar, before joining hands with the late Pt. Ravi Shankar, an artistic endeavour that would endure until the sitar maestro’s passing.

The experience left an indelible mark on Ghosh and his music and has been evident in many of his musical ventures, including the latest, Omkara, that also features veena exponent Rajhesh Vaidhya, ghatam artiste Suresh Vaidyanathan, drummer B.S. Arun Kumar, and keyboardist Pulak Sarkar.

The concert is a celebration of sorts, honouring Ghosh’s first fusion show at the Music Academy in the 2000s and his many collaborators who have taught him so much about art.

“This show will kick off with popular pieces from my maiden venture, Rhythmscape. This includes our single, The Dance of Shiva, given that our performance falls on the auspicious occasion of Shivaratri. We will then move into a rhythm jam, which forms the nucleus of another piece I present called Drums of Shiva. After this, Sudha ji will join us in more of an extempore segment,” he explains.

The improvisational aspect has Sudha equally enthused as it has the potential to incite what she calls ‘the electrifying effect of extempore.’

“Given that I am the only vocalist on stage with all other artistes being instrumentalists, who are masters of their craft, the combination makes this particular performance exciting. I think we’ll all be enraptured by the suspense because honestly, we won’t even know what the outcome will be until we come together on stage,” she says.

The experience, she says, is akin to painting a mural, splashing colour upon colour to create a masterpiece that unveils itself in totality in its final moments

‘Omkara’, presented by Eventart, will be held on February 21 (6.45 p.m.) at Narada Gana Sabha. For tickets log on to bookmyshow.com