A chat with Shubha Mudgal ahead of her performance in Mumbai

Shubha Mudgal on how Hindustani Classical scene has evolved in Mumbai over the years and her upcoming show

She has been performing in Mumbai for more than three decades, and has seen the city's cultural scene evolve. At Udayswar, an upcoming baithak of morning ragas, Shubha Mudgal will enthral Indian Classical music aficionados with her renditions. Aneesh Pradhan (tabla) and Sudhir Nayak (harmonium) will accompany her, and the artistes will perform without microphone. The veteran singer shares how performance spaces in Mumbai have undergone a change and why she doesn't do Bollywood playback.

Mumbai has been a hub for Hindustani Classical music for years. How have things changed since you began performing here?
It would be difficult to mention all the changes that have occurred in the last few decades, but several performance spaces in Mumbai have now ceased to be concert venues; some are no longer in use at all. For example, the first time I ever performed here was in the early '80s, and the concert venue was the Cowasji Jehangir Hall near Colaba. Today, the building houses the National Gallery of Modern Art and is rarely used as a performance space. New performance spaces have also sprung up in Mumbai, some of which were used for other activities decades ago. For instance, parts of mills or studio floors for shooting films, have been transformed into performance spaces.

Are intimate baithaks still relevant?
Baithaks are as relevant today as they were in the past and especially so for Hindustani Classical music, which has a history of chamber performances. The rapport that can be established with listeners, and the relative informality that the artiste and audience can share with each other, make the baithak experience special. This is not to run down the proscenium concert experience, but the inherent charm of the baithak cannot be denied.

Why don't you sing for films more often?
I am not a playback specialist. My training is in Hindustani Classical music, and therefore, on the rare occasions that I have sung for films, it has been for situations in a film or for composers who have wanted to work with a classically trained voice. Otherwise, there are specialists who are more suited for playback, much in the same way that you don't often hear film playback singers rendering full concerts of Classical music.

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