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Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

Magic minstrels Roysten Abel’s Manganiyar Seduction being performed in the backdrop of Taramati Baradari.

The massive scarlet structure that adorned the stage with lighted, screened alcoves placed in rows on four tiers formed a sort of opera house. The Manganiyars, otherwise a mobile musical band were housed with its vocalists and instrumentalists in each alcove one beside and one above the other. The electric lights lit up the alcoves in succession to bring the musician in sight as one of them drew the curtain of his cubicle for his turn to perform and join the others.

The one-hour rendition was marked by Sufi compositions interspersed with one or two Lok Geet, sung to extremely virtuosic instrumental accompaniment. The mode of rendition was close to the Hindustani light classical in as much as it followed a set pattern with an alap (vocal and instrumental), a doha, the bhol in varied styles and the akaar taan – the only difference being the brevity of technique and the dominance of folk element through the rugged instruments.

The instrumentalists wielding the kamaycha (string instrument with a bow to fiddle), and the surinda (a sarangi) were marvellous in melody while the young kartal players and the dhol, dhamruk percussion placed thoughtfully on the top-most alcove and on the flanks were masters of rhythm. The satara (vertical flute) recreated a haunting melody while the twang of the morchang and the phoongi added the austere dimension in keeping with the sober Sufi verses especially the most meaningful lines of ‘Thu hi thu ho koyi…’ and the earlier ‘Mai maali thu gulzaar.’ The women singer duo rendering the ‘Raja sabak sikaya…’ native lore with a chorus were a tad too incomprehensible with the music and the song blaring a little too loud for the urbane audience. The singers are not to be blamed for the heightened sound. Being folk artistes from a rustic background, they are trained to use their vocal chords sans a mike. The sophisticated stage equipment with its stereophonic audition calls for modulation techniques which can be monitored at the conductor’s end rather than the naïve artistes. For most part, the Sufi verses called for soft, flowing tones with melodic, ecstatic inputs from the accompanying orchestra that picks up momentum with every cycle of speed till the euphoria sets in (akin to a bhajan).

The charismatic performance reached a crescendo with the play of lights as the Manganiyars moved towards culmination of the presentation.

The sound and colour of this musical extravaganza rightly deserves to be called the ‘Manganiyar Awakening’ rather than ‘Manganiyar Seduction’ which was Roysten Abel’s creative nomenclature keeping in mind the Amsterdam’s red light area from where the concept took off. The conductor who occupied the centrestage and gave way to body kinetics under the illusion of reawakening the Sufism among audience was like a sore thumb to say the least. The aesthetics of the show would have otherwise been a picture perfect.

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