One song at a time - 16. Sweet sorrow of Bageshree

(C. Ramachandra)

In case you are thinking I am going to write something about the actress Bageshree and her sorrow, perish that thought!! Just kidding. I am sure you know I mean the raga Bageshree.

Bageshri is one of those ragas you can wallow in and never get out. It is as addictive as self pity. Unlike a raga like Subhapanthuvarali, where the pathos is almost unbearable, the sorrow that Bageshri carries has a sweetness associated with it. It is like going back in past and thinking of 'what if..'. An untold apology, an unexpressed love. Something you deliberately bring up to the surface, feel a bit sad, chew on it for some time and enjoy that mild sadness. Bageshree is a raga similar to that. It gives you a sweet sense of sadness. A sadness which you want within you for some time. This is a raga which has instant impact on the listeners and it will only be a person whose heart is made up of some non-corrosive metal who can escape the clutches of the raga. For some, it gnaws at their heart. For others it melts their heart. You can use any of those cliched phrases and those phrases describes perfectly what Bageshree does to the listener.

Bageshree came in Carnatic music quite late. Sometime in the twentieth century. The trinity did not know about this raga and hence there are no compositions of the trinity in this raga. This was imported from Hindustani music. I don't know who was responsible for this import but that person gets our affection.

As I told, Bageshree is a ragam within which you want to lose yourself. (My friend Kamal Aakarsh coincidentally tweeted today: " Stuck with Bhageshree!Dont think i want to leave bhageshree today.Dont even want to.Today dedicated to Bhageshree!" That's the impact I was talking about.) Given this feeling, I will post more than one song today. You can enjoy these over the weekend.

Let us start with a superb Bageshree designed by that outstanding music director called C.Ramachandra. He was the original trailblazing music director in Indian Film Music. He got in the funkiness of rock and roll, the rhythms of Caribbean islands into Indian film music. Songs like 'EnaMeenadeka', 'Mera Piya Gaya Rangoon', 'Meri Jaan Meri Jaan' are still with us, in their original forms or as parodies. Other than composing such funky songs, Ramachandra also composed some heart melting numbers, which were played in loud speakers all over India. 'Yeh Zindagi Usiki Hai' is a prime example. Everyone in those times knew this song. It was remade into 'jeevitame safalamu' in Telugu and that too become a roaring hit. Ramachandra also sang songs under the name of Chitalkar. He has lot of major 'hits' to his credit. Movies like 'Azaad', 'Ratan', 'Albela' etc but if one movie which was a super duper hit and will ensure C.Ramachandra's immortality, it was 'Anarkali'. The song I quoted earlier is from this movie and it is from this same movie that we will pick up our Bageshree song today. 'Jaag dard-e-ishq jaag', in the contrasting voices of Hemant Kumar and Lata Manageshkar. The Bageshree is superbly bought out and this song also shows why he was such a well respected and well like music director of those times. The words bring out the sadness and so does the tune. The very start of the pallavi establishes Bageshree perfectly and develops wonderfully in the charanam. (Song uploaded by 'yuanyuanyuanyin')

As I said, we will have more than one Bageshree today. From the Telugu movie 'Mayabazar', set to tune by S Rajeshwar Rao, (there is some debate about this. I think the credits show Ghantasala as the MD but it was supposed to be S Rajeshwar Rao who composed the songs.) 'neekosame ne jeevinchinadhi'. A song which every Telugu speaking person knows. Again bringing out that sadness very well. The lyrics also express the emotion of Bageshree well. Isn't separation also sweet sometimes? (The tune takes a different turn in the second charanam for a brief while.) (Song uploaded by 'sashirekhaweb')

As far as Tamil films are concerned, there are two Bageshree tunes which everyone must know. One from 'Gulebagavali', 'mayakum malai pozhude'. Since the video of this song is not on youtube, I give you the other classic Bageshree tuned by MSV, from the movie 'Ramu'. The shenoy bit in the interlude is lovely, to say the least and P B Sreenivas's voice is very apt for this song, effectively bringing out that self pity of protagonist. (song uploaded by 'ramudaya')

A more modern take on Bageshree by the Malayalam master, Raveendran. Some lovely flute bits in the interlude.

And this was a song which reverberated throughout India. In the magical voice of Jesudas, the tune of Ravindra Jain. I know you have already guessed the film. Probably not the canonical Bageshree but a lovely song nevertheless. (Uploaded by 'YesudasFan')

Leaving behind the film world, lets come to the Carnatic world. The first Bageshree that impressed me was Bombay Jayashree singing 'kanden kanden kanden sitayay'. Very apt tuning for that Ramanataka krithi. Ofcourse it is not the traditional tuning because the ragam was not known in South India during Arunachala Kavirayar's time. I couldn't get a youtube link for this song. So you need to go to this link and listen to this song.

http://www.hummaa.com/search/search.php?vl=kanden++sitayai&tp=song&lg=16

The other amazing Bageshree I heard was during the music season in Chennai. Probably 1995 Dec. K V Narayanaswamy was giving a concert in Krishnagana Sabha and KVN being one of my favourite artists, I did not want to miss the show. Towards the end, he started a song which went 'sagara sayana vibho'. It was so touching that it almost brought out tears from my eyes. It was the first time I was hearing it. Later I came to know this was a composition of M D Ramanathan. The rendition of KVN, with its slow speed and clearly intoned syllables is a joy to behold. Unfortunately no youtube video exists. Instead of KVN, here is the rendition of the same song by Sreevalsa Menon, who does a nice job. The genius of MDR is evident in the way he has composed the song to bring out the sweetness of Bageshree. (Uploaded by 'Cacofonics')

For those who want to know more about Bageshree musicology wise and also to hear some nice Hindustani renditions, Rajan Parrikar's article on Bageshree is the one to read.