Monsoon Nirvana celebrates its season six with a variety of music ranging from Sufi and classical compositions to instrumental ensembles. Amidst this, emerges a young Ghazal singer, Jazim Sharma, who originally hails from Bhatinda in Punjab, but settled in Mumbai to make a mark at the national level.
Originally Jaspreet Sharma, his ‘Jazzy’ singing style brought him fame and name among his friends as Jazim. Since the age of five, Jazim has been learning Hindustani classical music in his village and playing the Harmonium. Listening to the Ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, inspired him to sing Ghazals.
He says, “Every day after school, I would throw the school bag and rush to the first floor for music classes that would go on till past midnight. Since Mumbai is the happening place for youngsters, I came to study music at the Mumbai University. Later, I participated in a reality show where I got success and I decided to settle down here.”
Jazim Sharma, Ghazal singer
For Jazim, life in music is all about trying to release a new Ghazal song every month. “The Ghazal genre is moving away from the younger generation and I feel there is a need to take it back to them. We need to work on lyrics which the youth can relate to,” says Jazim, adding, “Music gives me an opportunity to meet likeminded people and shows me a path in life. I got a good break and could sing in Vishal Bharadwaj’s film Dedh Ishqiya. For one of my Ghazal album, Pyar Bepanah, the music was arranged by Kamran Akhtar from Pakistan. It was similar approach and friendly compatibility that gave this cross-border collaboration a beautiful meaning.”
Flute Nagaraju
Another artiste performing at the programme is Nagaraju Talluri, known more in the city as ‘Flute Nagaraju’, and has been a music director for Telugu films and serials. His wife, Mani Nagaraj, is also a talented singer, who has sung for television serials in Telugu and Hindi. Not to leave out their son Lalit Talluri, a bright talent.
“I visited a friend’s place in Visakhapatnam and saw a Flute. I blew into it and it made some sound. My brother spent four rupees to buy me a flute. Life took turns as I kept practicing before I was impressed by the work of violin maestro, L. Subramaniam, and was invited to join his troupe. Later, I started my own troupe and have been working on the same, doing lot of composing work. But, I plan to reduce this. Music direction is taking me away from my Flute. I want to give performances,” Nagaraju says. His wife, Mani Nagraj, adds, “I have been performing all around India but I feel it’s time we make Hyderabad an important hub for performing musicians.”
Young Lalit finds peace only in classical music. “In spite of doing video albums and fusion shows, I find classical music alluring. Once I complete my engineering, I will move to Chennai and purse advanced training in it,” says Lalit.
— The writer is a musician, creator of ‘Jaywant Guitar’ and a freelance photographer
