Bollywood on a piano

Western classical pianist Mohit Dodwani’s seeks to break stereotypes through Bollywood Soiree, an interactive concert featuring Hindi film songs from every era

Mohit Dodwani wants to make the piano appeal to a broader audience. A western classical pianist in Hyderabad, Mohit seeks to break stereotypes through Bollywood Soiree, an evening to celebrate evergreen Hindi film numbers on the piano.

“With all due respect to western classical piano legends such as Mozart and Beethoven, we have conducted many concerts with their compositions. Still, Hindi music has never had a concert on a piano, except in pubs. This concert is our way to bring it to families,” says Mohit, founder of Klavier Academy in Hyderabad where he teaches.

This weekend, get ready to groove to Hindi film songs at a 50-minute long concert with a playlist of 20 songs that span every era and all age groups. Rendered by singers like Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh of the golden era of Hindi film music to the current favourites, Arijit Singh, Mohit Chauhan and Jubin Nautiyal, the repertoire has a bit of everything.

Mohit’s inspiration to learn piano at the age of seven was Hindi film music when he heard his grandmother’s neighbour play songs on the keyboard. “However, my piano teacher (late) Joseph Thomas, with whom I trained for 10 years, told my mother that he doesn’t teach Hindi film songs. So I got immersed in western classical music but the love to play Hindi songs on the piano remained,” says Mohit, who has been playing the piano for 23 years.

Bollywood Soiree, he hopes, will break stereotypes that ‘the piano is a western instrument so only western classical music should be played with it,’ or ‘people trained in western classical music are not open to playing other kinds of music.’ He admits, “Although it is a bold move and might go against the tradition, I feel it doesn’t matter as long as one connects with the music,” says Mohit, adding that he also plays Telugu, Tamil, Bengali and Korean songs on the piano.

The interactive concert will also have the audience sharing special memories of the songs. “For the older generation, the very names of Kishore, Rafi and Lata bring a smile to their faces; A small tune fills their heart with so much joy, that is the connection Hindi film music has with us.”

Mohit firmly believes that the piano is the king of all instruments. “It can be an accompanying instrument and also have a solo show.” With piano teaching taking up most of his day — from 5.30am to 9pm with breaks in between — his biggest constraint has been time. “I don’t think I’m getting enough sleep now,” says Mohit, “I’m so excited to try out new ideas.”