Bhavageethe’s origins go back a long way, as early as the 12th century. Keeping this genre of music alive and popular today, in the 21st century, is MD Pallavi Arun.
Bhavageethe’s origins go back a long way, as early as the 12th century. Keeping this genre of music alive and popular today, in the 21st century, is MD Pallavi Arun.
A little bit of history
Kannada is rich in literature. We have a great culture of poetry. Right from the 12th century when we had the Vachana movement to the Dasarapadas from the 16th century, through the Navya and Navodaya phases till today… Kannada has had a rich literary culture. Bhavageethe takes poems and sets them to music; in its simplest form, it is about singing poetry. Bhavageethe has been a part of our musical domain for many, many years now. P Kalinga Rao was the pioneer of the Bhavageethe movement. Later, Mysore Ananthaswamy, Ashwath and many other composers contributed to its popularity. Bhavageethe helped reach poems across to people, such that even an illiterate today knows who poets like Sharif or Bendre are. I count myself as a part of the tradition.
A mighty crowd puller
Bhavageethe has a huge crowd of listeners. People who listen to it are not from just one strata of society. All Kannadigas listen to Bhavageethe and as for audiences, you can get anywhere from 100s to lakhs. Let me put in better perspective: you can do an open air concert and fill up the stadium or do an intimate baithak with a small audience; either way, Bhavageethe lends itself to all kinds of poetry, and can be sung anywhere.
There are poems that are very popular with the audiences. You can have a philosophical poet like Shishunala Sharif, a poet like Kuvempu or KS Narasimhaswami whose love poems are extremely popular. People actually sing along with the songs. Some of them are foot-tapping, melodious. What’s great about these songs is that you can convey a whole array of emotions through them.
Innovation in performances
It’s up to the performer what he or she wants to do. Do you want to experiment, explore avenues and find new ways to express yourself? There are people who want to stick to tradition and do what they’ve always been doing. Personally, I like to innovate and experiment, which is why you’ll find me involved in many things. For instance, I have recently founded a Kannada band called Humdrum along with my husband and other musicians, where we will put poetry to contemporary music. I have my organisation, Samudra, through which we organise a lot of concerts. I also act. I will be going for a film-making workshop in Bangalore and Sweden, next month. I am also doing an Indo-German play called Boy With A Suitcase, for which I will be touring in April, May and June next year.
— MD Pallavi Arun is a popular Bhavageethe and Sugama Sangeetha singer. She was awarded the Karnataka State Film Award for best playback singer in 2006-07 for the movie Duniya
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