As the monsoon breathes new life into Mumbai, O Gaanewali returns to the Royal Opera House after a highly acclaimed performance and an overwhelming audience response, with a special repertoire of forms like Kajari, Sawan, and Jhoola, celebrating the music of the rains.
Written and curated by Avanti Patel, a top 9 finalist of Indian Idol Season 10, the evening will take you through the beautiful literary, emotive, and musical repository of these folk forms. The monsoon of the Gangetic Plains typically brings folk melodies created and sung by women, representing longing and separation from their partners. These folk forms are ever-changing living traditions, using song and melody to talk about relational & social issues faced by women. Presented in a conversational mix of Hindi and English, the performance invites audiences to travel back in time to discover the remarkable lives of the tawaifs, the women musicians who were among the foremost cultural torchbearers of 19th and early 20th-century India. Through immersive storytelling, live performance, and historical anecdotes, O Gaanewali honours their artistry while reclaiming their rightful place in India's cultural memory.
The lead vocalists share a deep musical lineage. Both Avanti and Rutuja Lad are students of Padmashri Vidushi Dr. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and carry the artistic inheritance of her aunt, Sarla Bhide, a senior disciple of the legendary Shobha Gurtu. They will be accompanied on stage by musicians Akshay Jadhav (Tabla), Siddarth Mesta (Harmonium), and Sandeep Mishra (Sarangi).
Join us as the monsoon sets the stage for an unforgettable evening of music, nostalgia, and storytelling.
Avanti Patel is a hindustani classical vocalist, playback singer, composer and songwriter from Mumbai. Her musical journey started at the age of 5 with formal music lessons from her Guru, Smt Varsha Bhave. She completed her Sangeet Visharad and holds a Masters Degree in Hindustani Classical Vocal Music. She is currently the disciple of Vidushi Ashwini Bhide Deshpande of the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. Her areas of passion include Thumri and Semiclassical Music. Her show O Gaanewali and soon to release EP called "O Gaanewali Session 1" showcases the musical contribution of the Tawaifs from North Indian Art Music Traditions. The influence of this style is evident in her original music as well. She has composed and sung a Parvin Shakir Ghazal, Gaye Mausam, while Saiyaan Bina (feat. Anshuman Sharma) is an original Thumri. Recently seen in Indian Idol Season 10, Avanti reached the top 9 and has performed worldwide in 1000+ shows. Avanti holds a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. She always wanted to create a confluence between her music and her academic disciplines. She interviewed 25+ women artists from the Indian Music industry in an Instagram Live series called ‘Equal Voices’, featuring multi genre vocalists, composers, lyricists, instrumentalists, sound engineers, producers and so on to talk about the lack of opportunities in the industry for women and non cis individuals.
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Rutuja Lad is a classical Indian vocalist and a visiting faculty member at S.N.D.T. University. She was initiated into music at a young age by her parents and later studied under Gaanyogini Dhondutai Kulkarni. She has also studied harmonium with Shri Sudhir Nayak, Learning the semi classical form from Smt Shubha Joshi ji and is currently under the tutelage of Padmashree Dr. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande.
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Apoorv Petkar Harmonium Son and disciple of Pandit Mukund Petkar, Apoorv has performed as an accompanying artist with several noteworthy musicians. He’s a multi-instrumentalist having proficiency in the Santoor, Vocals and Tabla. He has performed as a composer and soloist in several venues nationally as well as internationally.
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Akshay Jadhav discovered his love for the tabla at a young age and has been performing ever since. Trained under the guidance of his father Shri Ashok jadhav and Taal yogi Pt. Suresh talwalkar, an MBA in E-commerce and a Master of Arts in Tabla, he chose to follow his passion. He has showcased his talent in films like Kalank, Laal Singh Chaddha, 83, Chandu Champion to name a few. A globetrotting artist, Akshay has collaborated with musicians across genres, leaving a lasting impression on the world of music.
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Sandeep Mishra hails from the renowned Sarangi Gharana (school) of Benaras, India. Since his childhood he had a flair for singing and acquired a high level proficiency in vocal singing under the guidance of his guru and grand father the great maestro late. Pandit Narayan Das Mishra. He had a strong inclination and talent in music, and received subsequent training and guidance under his grand father Pandit Bhagwan Das mishra - the world renowned Sarangi maestro and his father Pandit Santosh Kumar Mishra. SANDEEP has added a new innovation and style to his Sarangi by blending a contemporary approach to this traditional instrument without forsaking its purity. He can play at ease the nuances of the very pure classical Indian form of music and also the contemporary/modern music on Sarangi. He is a versatile performer collaborating with musicians from different genres and styles all over the world and creating new musical language. His performance is well reflected in his achievements in the field of Shastriya Sangeet. In this short span of his life sangeet has made an endeavor to revive the ancient style of this soul-touching instrument, the Sarangi. He has acquired the ‘tantakri’ and ‘gayaki’ style of playing Sarangi from his father and practiced it since his childhood. His unparallel talent allowed his seniors and gurus to call him a child prodigy.
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A Glimpse into Thumri, Dadra and Ghazals
Thumri is a beautiful Hindustani classical music genre. Thumri was sung by courtesans who performed for royalty and nobility at their kothas or durbar. Dadra is a light classical music vocal form, a six-beat taal, and the shortest taal in Hindustani Classical music. The origin of both thumri and dadra is said to have taken place in Lucknow around the 1850s in the court of Wajid Ali Shah. Ghazals are a form of poetry, in the Urdu or Persian language, developed in Persia around the 10th century and introduced to the Indian subcontinent by the Sufi mystic around the 12th century. The themes of love, nostalgia, and separation are dominantly celebrated in ghazals.
Tawaifs and Gaanewalis - Loss of Identity as Professional Performers
Tawaifs and gaanewalis were skilled female entertainers who performed at royal courts or private spaces owned by them. The tawaifs were highly skilled courtesans who excelled in singing, dancing, and poetry; they were socio-culturally significant figures and had a prominent history in the Indian subcontinent. On the other hand, gaanewalis were skilled singers or musicians who performed traditional music such as ghazal, thumri and dadra. Due to the arrival of the East India Company and the British government to power, the tawaifs lost their performance spaces, their distinct social status as performance artists during the anti-nautch campaign and further planned systematic reduction of tawaifs to prostitutes due to nationalist and colonial agendas impacted their reputation as a performing community.
Comeback of the Mehfil and Baithak era
The origin of the word mehfil is traced to the Arabic term mehfil, meaning festive gathering or praising someone. A formal indoor or outdoor venue setup where recreational activities such as poetry in the form of mushairas, ghazals, etc, singing, music and classical/folk dance are performed is known as a ‘mehfil’. Baithak, on the other hand, would refer to a more closed-knit gathering organised in a cosy set-up where audiences are in closer proximity to performers, featuring mostly classical music. These gatherings or seatings were a common phenomenon in royal courts, social gatherings held at private homes of aristocratic or influential women, and patrons of the performing arts. The Mughal and Nawabi eras witnessed a surge in these gatherings at palaces, havelis, and private spaces, where connoisseurs enjoyed a blend of ghazal, thumri, dadra, Sufi poetry, classical music, and occasionally dance in an exclusive setting.
There has been a resurgence of baithaks and mehfils in smaller private settings, concerts, and digital platforms, continuing to pass on the heritage of classical and semi-classical music to the current generation.
