Singer Kavita Seth, who is known for several songs including her classical Sufi rendition of "Gunja Sa Koi Iktara" in the film Wake Up Sid (2009) and the very recent one 'Rangi Saari', a contemporary rendition of late classical singer Shobha Gurtu’s popular thumri, in collaboration with her younger son Kanishk Seth, says it’s the responsibility of every artist to preserve the traditional art, to keep them alive, and pass it to the coming generation so that it keeps on moving forward. “Because such beautiful things shouldn’t be allowed to fade away,” she says in a conversation with Outlook.
“ When we sing traditional compositions or ghazals by old artists, people ask us why we’re singing them, the only reason we do so is because we’ve grown up hearing them and it takes us back to our childhood. So it is important and our responsibility as an artist to do this in order to revive our traditions,” she adds.
A version of her 'Rangi Saari' track was seen in Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani starrer film 'Jugjugg Jeeyo'.
Kavita was recently part of IBTIDA- Ek Mehfil curated by Tanvi Bhatia and Anubhav Jain. The event started with the core essence of the revival of baithaks and mehfils in India and the creators wish to create and bring back the old tradition reliving the enigmatic experiences that formed a seminal part of our historical and cultural milieu which we feel is missing in times today and wanted the younger audience to understand the golden era.
Kavita also feels that around, thirty-forty years ago there was so much trend of home gatherings. “I am from Bareilly, and I remember people coming to my house once or twice a month to meet. When my dad’s friends used to come, we called Qawwali artists over and had musical nights along with food and drinks. I miss all this a lot,” she says.
The singer, thereby, credits Ibtida for reviving the art. “People have given such an overwhelming response to baithaks. One thing I love about it is the physical presence of people enjoying and the great exchange of energy. You have a different energy when you’re performing in front of fifteen thousand to twenty thousand people, you need really high beats, you can experiment a lot, and you get to know what your audience is enjoying more.
“After coming to Bombay I wanted to start something like Ibtida, but now I’ve got Tanvi who has started this and getting an amazing response. She is putting in a lot of effort and I think it’s going to be a hit,” she says.
When asked if there is something that she wants to change about the current music industry, Kavita says that “change is constant, and even in times of Covid, artists have had an advantage, as people are exploring new artists and listening to independent music, unlike old times where people only used to listen to Bollywood music as it was more accessible.”
“But now people are actually experimenting and a lot of new artists have come up in the past two three years. Everyone deserves a spot and should have their space to create. People say there is a lot of competition, but I feel there is no competition in the industry. I feel that my competition is with myself. How I carve myself as an artist, and how well I’m singing is what matters.
“Just a request to the people who belong to the field of art or music to find yourself inside you rather than through the outside world, and once you connect with yourself then things will automatically get better,” says Kavita,
For the singer, her most ambitious project is ‘Mai Kavita Hu’, which could not happen due to Covid. “In that I am working with different poets,” she says and adds that she is even recording and doing live concerts.
“ I want to take that project globally, introduce people to these poets and their poetry. India is full of so much treasure, one’s whole life is short to listen to all of them. Apart from that, there are songs from films, which you’ll be able to hear in a few months. So, soon you will get to hear something very sweet,” sums up Kavita.
