Mayank Shekhar: Eternal resurgence of Jagjit Singh

Jagjit SinghSince Jagjit Singh had composed an album Samvedna based on the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees poetry anchor Rajat Sharma in the customarily cheeky tone of his popular TV show Aap Ki Adalat asked Jagjit if he had done this to curry favours with the government They awarded me a Padma Bhushan Jagjit said Now I should aim for Padma Vibhushan Responding to the same line of questioning on whether he held any political ambitions Jagjit smiled I wouldnt mind a backdoor entry into the Rajya SabhaWatching this show reminded me of an episode that writer Khushwant Singh himself narrates in his brilliant autobiography Truth Love And A Little Malice where Sanjay Gandhi asks the writer what he would like in return for having unabashedly supported the Emergency in 1975 Rajya Sabha seat or editorship of the Hindustan Times Both Khushwant shoots backWhich brings me to the point on whats common between the late Khushwant and Jagjit besides that they were both Sikhs full of selfdeprecating humour enjoyed the company of friends and whiskey and worked really hard to entertain their audiences They never took their greatness seriouslyIts hardly a surprise then that while Khushwant was a rare Indian writer of his time who was read enough to make a serious living out of it Jagjit was arguably Indias first true rockstar who didnt depend on Bollywood soundtracks to immeasurably widen his mass appeal packing halls traversing continents and multiple generationsHe did what are called private albums selling as he called it masala or churan alert to his audiences moods mixing ghazals with classical music Punjabi folk and lots of jokes so his viewers regardless of the demographic inevitably desi subcontinental eventually went home happy And he hustled his way up in showbiz having performed at peoples homes from 1965 until 76 when he cut his first album the pathbreaking Unforgettables with Chitra SinghA fun fact I came across Sathya Sarans book on Jagjit Baat Niklegi Toh Phir is that he had even done a walkon oneline part in a film called Aman 1967 with Rajendra Kumar in the lead Now if you ever get hold of Aman which by the way had a cameo by Bertrand Russel you should pause at a crowd sequence where youll also spot actor Naseeruddin Shah in his first screen appearance as wellNaseer and Jagjit of course came together for one of Indias finest TV shows Gulzars Mirza Ghalib where Jagjit as composer revived an interest in Ghalib like no one had before Post early 90s when his music developed much gravitas he did the same with a whole galaxy of the finest Urdu poets ever exhibiting a plethora of emotions chiefly love and pain thereofHis voice had the quality of a lived experience as Zakir Hussain puts it in Brahmanand Singhs Jagjit documentary Kaagaz Ki Kashti 2017 an astoundingly skilled work at biographical storytelling where you learn foremost how the popular singercomposer was unique because he could equally have the purist and the layman on his sideThrough an excellent set of amateur tapes rare home videos inspired by Asif Kapadias Amy 2015 Brahmanands film is more about the man than his music alone in contrast to the masterpiece Pancham Unmixed 2008 his film on RD Burman the other trendsetter whose career coincided with Jagjits both being incredibly colourful characters with an immense zest for life and music Jagjit by the way also loved and bred horses He enjoyed gambling at casinos a hobby Im told he shared with Lata MangeshkarI watched portions of Kaagaz Ki Kashti with a nearly moisteyed crowd at the Kala Ghoda Festival couple of weeks ago having missed a marathon musical session at the Turf Club to celebrate Jagjits birthday February 8 He would have turned 77 which is hardly a landmark year He passed away in 2011 Author Sathya Saran was giving a talk on Jagjit elsewhere in the city while some of the top Bollywood singers got together for a tribute concert the following Sunday even as I hear from the far distance of a latenight bar a bunch of drunk kids singing Hothon Se Chhoo Lo Tum a song that inspires the bathroom singer in most of us As does an entire playlist on my cab a Jagjit song after another so simple yet so deep It almost feels like hes following us wherever we goThis is a sign I suspect of inevitably eternal resurgence Call it Malcolm Gladwells Tipping Point in popculture if you may Need more evidence The current IMDb rating I check for Brahmanands film Kaagaz Ki Kashti is 9410 Put in context Shawshank Redemption 1994 the clicheacuted publicfavourite perpetually the greatest film ever ranks 93Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates