Hyderabad Gave Me Fond Memories, Says Rituparna Sengupta

Hyderabad: Rituparna Sengupta remembers the first time she shot at Ramanaidu Studios, when she was new to cinema and trying to hold her own beside Nagarjuna in an item number that had a real lion and tiger on set. She still recalls him telling her to stop worrying about the Telugu lyrics. “He told me to just say ABCD because it would sound the same in any language,” she said, laughing at how young she was then.

“This city holds so many memories for me. I shot ‘Shudhu Ekbar Bolo’ here, and worked in several studios. Hyderabad has always been the place where cinema and music sit side by side,” said the National Award winning actress, who has worked in more than 200 films across Bengali, Hindi and other film industries, and is known for both mainstream cinema and classical dance.

She returns to Hyderabad this weekend for the Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan National Festival of Music and Dance, Season 8, at Ravindra Bharathi on December 13 and 14. The event is curated by Sangitanjaly Foundation's Abhijeet Bhattacharjee and tabla maestro Pandit Prodyut Mukherjee, who serves on the Grammy Jury and has received the GiMA Award and the Governor’s National Excellence Award.

Rituparna said performing on a classical stage asks for a different kind of attention. “The classical stage is always very difficult to fathom because it moves from a fusion or make-believe world to something strict and definitive,” she said.

Training in Manipuri and Odissi shaped the way she thinks about expression. “It deepened me as a person and as a human being. Whenever I get an opportunity to perform classical in its purest form or in a blended form, I feel honoured that this chance still knocks at me.”

She has put together a piece for the festival with music composed by Pandit Prodyut Mukherjee. It uses his composition and folds in Radha-Krishna-based material, Carnatic elements from Telugu classical work, and a concluding section built around a national anthem song. She said, “Panditji’s music is beautiful. Dance has always been my passion and it makes me very happy.”

“I’ve composed music for Rituparna Sengupta’s performance, blending classical, semi-classical, contemporary and Tagore styles,” added Pandit Prodyut Mukherjee adding that it only makes sense since it is being performed at Ravindra Bharathi.

As for the event and its importance, he says, “I’m drawn to curate the Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan festival in Hyderabad because it is a tribute to the legendary musician who spent his last days here and is revered as the Tansen of the twentieth century.” He visits the musician’s shrine before the festival begins, a practice he follows as part of the Sangeetanjali Foundation’s work with Abhijeet Bhattacharjee.

He described this year’s line-up as a mix of senior musicians and younger artists. “I’m thrilled to collaborate with talented artists from across the country, including promising youngsters who are the future of classical music,” he said.

The festival will stream its performances so that “the beauty of Indian classical music and the legacy of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan will reach a global audience, spreading positive vibes and peace through the universal language of music.”

When it comes to juggling dance and cinema, or the two influencing each other, Rituparna said that dance sits inside her daily life, even in the middle of film work. “Dance flows inside you like a stream. It makes you fluid and beautifully weaponed. Cinema and dance blend when expressions come out automatically without any effort. Dance emancipates you and enlightens you from the core,” she said.

She noted that every film she has made includes a dance number, and the excitement remains.

She asked younger performers to hold their practice with care. “Be very disciplined when it comes to rehearsals or exercises. Respect your dance and not neglect it. Stay with it,” she said. She mentioned that her daughter, a sixth-grader, now learns Odissi and jazz.

“I feel proud when she dances both with the same spirit,” she said. Her husband, private equity investor Sanjay Chakraborty, will also perform on the sarod at the festival.