Audience joins percussionists to create Afro-Indian fusion at Sa Re Ga Ma Pa

Audiences at the Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa semi-finals were in for a treat when apart from watching the contestants perform, they also got the opportunity to create their own music. For the first time in India, 300 members in the audience played on African djembe drums along with percussionists on stage to create an Afro-India fusion. 

The brainchild of this season’s mentors, composer duo Sajid-Wajid, and the head of the Indian chapter of the South African interactive drumming company Drum Cafe, Vinod Hasal, the idea came about by chance. Kathak guru Hasal, who has made the classical dance popular across South Africa, laughs as he recounts running into Sajid few months ago. “The moment we met, we remembered that we’d been classmates at Mithibai many years ago. That revived our connection and when it came to creating something new and radically different for the show, he thought of Drum Cafe.”

Drum Cafe has performed at over 27,000 events across the globe, including the Beijing Olympics and the FIFA 2010 World Cup opening ceremony. Apart from playing for Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Mukesh Ambani and Sachin Tendulkar, they have also been featured with AR Rehman in his video ‘Jiyaa se jiyaa’ in the past.

Similarly, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, which began in 1995, has seen 16 seasons with over 1,000 episodes to date, cementing its popularity in India. “When two such musical movements come together, the effect has to be dazzling,” Sajid told DNA. “That’s exactly what happened as the audiences will see when the episode is telecast,” he added.

“It has been a wonderful experience to be part of a show which has devoted itself to promoting music religiously for so many decades,” said Hasal, who went on to praise the other mentors on the show, Raghu Ram and Shankar Mahadevan. “Despite their own standing in the world of music, they were more than generous with their praise for the Afro-Indian fusion we created.”

The episode will be telecast on January 20.