For six decades, Pandit Jasraj’s sonorous voice and unique jugalbandi have held the world in a thrall. His vocal brilliance, however, does not seem adequate enough to stir respect in the state censor board. The board has asked the 80-year-old maestro to submit lyrics of his songs for a programme.
The reason: It wants a thorough scrutiny of the lyrics to avoid tension in the city.
These are the songs for his February 20 concert at the Shivaji Park. The insensitive action has shocked the maestro, who has been free of trivial controversies all through his career.
A deeper probe revealed that it was a case of mindless functioning
of the government body. Aware of the goof-up, the board is now taking care to assuage hurt feelings.
According to rules, the organisers have to take permission from the censor board for a concert at a public/open place. The organisers in this case are Atharva Theatres, a cultural group, which is holding the classical music concert at Shivaji Park after nearly six years.
“We can ask for scripts and lyrics to ensure it does not hurt anybody’s sentiments. But in this case it seems that our employees have worked mindlessly. The rules are not applicable to every concert. It is not mandatory to submit lyrics of classical songs,’’ censor board chairman FM Shinde told DNA.
Santosh Kanekar, one of the organisers of the concert, confirmed the incident. “At first we were shocked by the censor board’s demand. But we agreed to it.” However, after some discussion they admitted it was not mandatory to provide the lyrics,” he said.
Another organiser, Bhimrao Mude, said, “We were ready to give them the lyrics in the backdrop of ongoing tension (migrants versus sons-of-soil) in the city, especially when the concert is being organised at Shivaji Park. But we were amused as classical concerts are always above petty politics.
“Panditji was shocked by the censor board’s demand. He told me that it was for the first time in his life that a government body has asked for lyrics of his songs. But he neither objected nor expressed dissatisfaction. He said that classical music has given him a lot of joy in life,” an aide of Jasraj said.
Jasraj could not be contacted as he was out of the country. His daughter Durga said that she was not aware of the incident.
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