Ragas, of course, are divided into the different times of the day and synchronise with the various seasons. And for 17 years, a festival called Barkha Ritu has celebrated those that are synonymous with the monsoon. The event was initially held only in Mumbai, but grew to become an eight-city affair, attracting stalwarts like Vishwamohan Bhatt, TM Krishna and Hariprasad Chaurasia. The event now returns to its home city, with a performance featuring Pt Shivkumar Sharma on santoor and Sanjeev Abhyankar on vocals. We caught up with the latter ahead of the show. Edited excerpts from the interview:

You sing both Indian classical and film music. What are some key differences between the two?
When I sing classical music, the entire process is my own creation. I have to be creative enough to keep the audience glued throughout my performance, and also execute my ideas with perfection. But when I sing for films, I only execute the idea that the music director has.