How the Anirudh Varma Collective makes classical sounds cool

Anirudh Varma Collective's Sabr album blends classical music with contemporary sounds

The Anirudh Varma Collective recently launched its third album Sabr at a packed Kamani auditorium in New Delhi. The more than two-hour concert featured 12 tracks from the album, and two old favourites ‘Megh’ and ‘Tala Bop’.

Weaving together traditional pieces with a contemporary soundscape is the Collective’s speciality. As Anirudh Varma put it: “Our intent has always been to not take away the classical essence but to present it in a contemporary format.” Trained in both Western classical music, (piano) and Hindustani music, Anirudh gives equal space to both genres in the songs his group presents.

A melange of musicians, including Sidharth on the saxophone and Aman Sharma on the trumpet, dominated by Suyash Gabriel on the drums, set the mood, before vocalist Prateek Narasimha sang the opening number ‘Saade naal’, accompanied by a full set of musicians, including a 12-member choir, flute, sarod, sitar and guitars. The lighting was excellent, with light designer Gaurav Indaura enhancing the visual appeal of the concert.     

The playlist included some Carnatic music too — ‘Saraswati’ was sung by Soumya Gurucharan, accompanied by the talented Abhay Nayampally on the Carnatic guitar. Bhagyesh Marathe, the talented vocalist representing Gwalior and Agra gayaki, was a guest singer at the concert. He sang ‘Raga Rageshwari’, accompanied by Anirudh on the keyboard, Soumitra Thakur, the talented Maihar gharana sitarist, and Punjab gharana’s Yashwant Vaibhav and Ajrara gharana’s Saptak Sharma on the tabla. On the ghatam was Varun Rajasekharan. This song lent a different dimension to the concert. 

Folk songs, thumri and bhajan broadened the appeal of the band.  

One admired the musical context of the pieces as well as the seamless mingling of genres and sounds. To create something novel that also kindles nostalgia is laudable; as is Anirudh’s ability to present a diverse set of musicians on the same stage. “I was fortunate to find a group of artistes who were willing to contribute to this project,” says Anirudh.