Sarod meets sitar in a rare jugalbandi

 Ayush Mohan and Lakshya Mohan
| Photo Credit: Courtesy: mohanbrothers.com

New Earth Performing Arts recently organised a unique sarod-sitar jugalbandi of brothers Ayush Mohan and Lakshya Mohan in Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, Bengaluru.

Titled ‘The Marvel of Jugalbandi’, the concert commenced with an enthusiastic delineation of raag Jogeshwari through a three tiered sequence of alap-jod-jhala, unveiling the salient features of this beautiful raag in the ‘anibaddh’ section in the non-rhythmic mode. This was followed by a gat composition in Dharmar taal.

The brothers explored the expanse of this raag by taking turns through avartans, creating an impressive superstructure of Jogeshwari. In the jhala section, they were ably supported by Pt Gurumurthy Vaidya on the pakhawaj. In the Dhamar composition, the brothers were accompanied on the tabla by the inimitable Pt Ravindra Yawagal, who lent sparkle to the performance, albeit a more meticulous acoustic arrangement could have enhanced the appeal of the raag.

Delectable sangathis

After an elaborate exposition of Jogeshwari, Ayush and Lakshya Mohan took up a dadra in raag Manj Khamaj, embellishing the composition with delectable sangathis, weaving a romantic tapestry of emotions . It was obvious that the raga popularised by legends Pt Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in their jugalbandis had left an indelible impression on these artistes and their Manj Khamaj bore an unmistakable imprint of these influences.

However, their rendition of the popular song, ‘Jaane kaise sapnon me kho gayi akhiyan’ (Keherwa taal) from the 1960 Hindi film Anuradha in the rare raag Tilak Shyam and Keherwa taal was indeed the highlight of the concert.

Mohan brothers were in their element while articulating the nuances of this song, investing it with alluring idiosyncratic flourishes , kindling a mood of nostalgia. The brothers paid homage to Pt Ravi Shankar, who was the music director of this film, with an earnest an endeavor to recreate the magic of this song . They concluded their concert with a fast-paced drut teen taal composition in the same raag.