73 ragas in 14 minutes and a quest for listeners

Many artists are trying to expand the listenership of and appreciation for Indian classical music in ways that are experimental but rooted very much in the form. Abby V, an award-winning Indian-origin singer based in Toronto, Canada, is one of them.

He shot to fame with the viral video ‘73 Ragas With Abby V’, where he rendered 73 ragas in 14 minutes in a casual style. He wasn’t sitting in a kutcheri. He was walking around in what
appears to be somebody’s house, wearing a sweatshirt and denim, and singing one raga after another.

“When I told people about the concept of singing snippets of ragas in quick succession, they were sceptical. Now the video has proved that if classical music wasn’t popular among the current generation, it wouldn’t have attracted so many eyeballs,’’ he says.

Abby says vocalists must not stick to a particular style of presenting classical songs and many veterans he has spoken to say the same.

Likewise, well-known singers like sister duo Rajani-Gayatri, Kaushiki Chakraborty and Prabha Atre have been open to innovations, and they have appreciated his work too.

“Many compositions by A R Rahman are based on popular ragas like Yaman, Mand, Bhimpalasi and Desh. Don’t people enjoy listening to his enriching songs?” he asks. He is a huge fan of Rahman and American singer-songwriters Chris Brown and Justin Timberlake.

Innovation is key to attracting

listeners from one generation to another and keeping the musical heritage alive. “When I post videos on Instagram, YouTube, or Tik Tok (outside India), they leave valuable comments and appreciate my knowledge of some ragas which they may have not heard before,’’ he says. For instance, his young followers did not know raga Abheri until they chanced upon his videos on social media.

Moving on with time is important too. Earlier people did not have much exposure to Indian classical music as they were solely dependent on physical concerts. “Now, thanks to social media, music is at one’s fingertips. We can live stream concerts happening at different places,’’ he says.

Abby is looking to merge his Western and Indian classical influences in future projects. His confidence stems from the fact that he listens to pop, R&B and hip-hop as much as he is tuned to Bollywood and Tamil film songs, ghazals and qawwalis.

Learning different genres of music sharpens an artiste’s skill and repertoire, and he signs off.

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