A Clean Sweep

From L to R: Kalyani Salunke, Aanandi Joshi, Jaydeep Bagwadkar, Madhura Kumbhar, Kaushal S. Inamdar, Kittu Myakal

Ajintha made a clean sweep at the first Radio Mirchi Music Awards - Marathi held in Mehboob Studios, Bandra, Mumbai winning 8 awards. The domination was unmistakable.

I am happy... very happy. But to know why I am so happy one has to recognise the significance of these awards. Radio Mirchi is a very popular radio station across India and they already have a property by the same name (Radio Mirchi Music Awards) in Hindi. And now they have held, for the first time, awards for music in Marathi. This increases the chances of Marathi music being played - especially NEW Marathi music being played across their stations in Maharashtra where Hindi music has held its sway. This is comforting news for music composers and musicians working in Marathi. If, in the third phase of the Prasar Bharati FM spectrum auction, Mumbai manages to get more stations, music lovers would like to hear some good Marathi music. And for the build up to the auction, I feel that these awards can go a long way. So from the bottom of my heart I thank the Radio Mirchi team - Tapas Sen, Ninad Sonawane, Indira Rangarajan, RJ Smita, RJ Aditi, RJ Rahul, RJ Prackriti and all the others who made it into a fantastic and memorable event.

For me Ajintha has always been very special. I believe that even individual awards are the result of chemistry between people. And so with great happiness I credit my entire team with these awards -

Music Director: Kaushal S. Inamdar
Associate Music Director: Aditya V. Oke.
Assistant: Mandar Gogate

Lyrics: Na Dho Mahanor,

Music Arrangements: Aditya V. Oke, Bhavesh Bhatt, Mithilesh Patankar, Vinayak Netke.

Associate Strings Arrangements: Neville Franco.

Background Score: Bhavesh Bhatt, Kaushal S Inamdar, Aditya V. Oke.

Rhythm: Deepak Borkar, Anil Karanjavkar, Vinayak Netke, Prabha Mosamkar, Krishna Musale,

Melody: 

Vibraphone / Spanish and 12 String Guitars: Dnynaesh Deo.
Bass / Spanish Guitar: Manish kulkarni / Sanjay Mahadik.
Santoor: Dhananjay Daithankar

Flute: Varad Kathapurkar.
Violin/ Swaralin: Mahesh Khanolkar, Shruti Bhave,
Ghungaroo Tarang: Deepak Borkar

With my favourite singer - Hamsika Iyer

Clarinet: Manchekar,
Shehanai: Yogesh More
Sarod: Sarang Kulkarni,
Strings Sections: Neville Franco, Puran Singh, Prakash Varma, Shyam Jawda, Rizwan Shaikh,
Viola: Abhijit Mazumdar, Sandeep Thakur,
Cello: Benny Gracious

Singers: Suresh Wadkar, Ravindra Sathe, Avdhoot Gupte, Swanand Kirkire, Milind Ingale, Kalyani Salunkhe, Urmila Dhangar, Kaushal Inamdar, Hamsika Iyer, Jaydeep Bagwadkar, Aanandi Joshi, Saee Tembhekar, Madhura Kumbhar, Priyanka Barve, Amruta Subhash, Yogita Godbole, Hrishikesh Ranade,
Tejaswini Kelkar, Nehha Rajpal, Savani Ravindra, Pt. Satyasheel deshpande.

Voice in Chimb Zali: Vinay Apte

Chorus: Umesh Joshi, Datta Mistry, Nilesh Mulye, Ketan Godbole, Vijay, Ganesh, Mangesh Chavan, Aditi Prabhudesai, Pragati Joshi, Rashmi Sule, Aarohi Mhatre, Aanandi Joshi, Kshiti Godse, Rasika Dhabadgaonkar, Madhura Kumbhar.

Recording Engineers: Kittu Myakal (ICPPL Studios), Aditya V. Oke (Audioarts), Satyajeet Ranade (Pancham Studios), Avadhoot Wadkar (Ajivasan Studios)
Mixing Engineer: Kittu Myakal (ICPPL Studios).
Assistants: Shailesh Sakpal (ICPPL Studios), Ganesh Pokle (Audioarts)

Mastered at: YRF Studios by Dipesh Sharma.

Special thanks to Vijay Dayal of Yashraj Studios.

The awards that Ajintha received were:

Best Recording & Mixing :  Kittu Myakal (Chaitacha Rang Sang)
Best Lyrics : N. D. Mahanor (Dolyanna Dasale)
Best Male Playback Singer : Suresh Wadkar (Shabdaat Gothale Dukkha)
Best Female Playback Singer : Hamsika Iyer (Mann Chimb Paavasaali)
Best Music Composer : Kaushal S. Inamdar (Mann Chimb Paavasaali)
Album of the Year Listeners' Choice : Ajintha
Album of the Year Jury Award : Ajintha
Song of the Year : Mann Chimb Paavasaali (Ajintha)

For those who have not yet listened to the Ajintha songs, here is the link. Feel free to share it with your friends.

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© Kaushal S. Inamdar, 2012

Nominations Galore!

18 nominations for Radio Mirchi Marathi Music Awards for AJINTHA! 6 music related nominations in Zee Gaurav! Phew! I really hadn't expected that. Prior to this I had received only one nomination and only one competitive award!

Frankly speaking, I haven't had much of a love affair with awards. Awards have always been elusive to me, competitive ones in particular. I had sincerely thought that BALGANDHARVA would change all that. But it didn't. I didn't receive a single nomination for BALGANDHARVA in Zee Gaurav, MaTa Sanman and the State Awards. I did receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the music of BALGANDHARVA which balanced things in a manner of speaking. The interesting thing about Balgandharva was that the song that won all the awards for Anand Gandharva (Anand Bhate) was Chinmaya Sakal Hridaya. Now I had composed this song afresh for the film, but the challenge was to compose it as if it had been composed in Balgandharva's times! The result was that while the song won all awards for the singer, I didn't receive a single nomination because every time the jury would think that this was truly a Balgandharva song! Interestingly, it was for this very song that Anand Bhate went on to win the National Award! It was a touching moment for me when Anand, while receiving the award in Rashtrapati Bhavan sang out the lines from this song clearly mentioning that the song had been composed by me. This was to me, nothing less than an award.

Now with nominations raining for Ajintha, I am a little nervous once again. In the long run, awards do not really count, but at that moment of time, they mean a lot of things. An award for AJINTHA means that the songs will get airtime on radio, which is more precious than an award at this point of time, especially for a Marathi song, which still gets a step-motherly treatment from most of the private radio stations. There are people in these Radio stations who have been working hard for Marathi music to be played on their shows and it is to their credit that stations like BIG FM and Radio Mirchi have now started their own awards for Marathi music, which I sincerely believe is better music than what Bollywood is churning out. So till the awards are declared, I shall go through my mandatory nervousness while you enjoy a song from AJINTHA.

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© Kaushal S. Inamdar, 2013

A Sick Society

There has been great angst against the molestation in Delhi Bus and rightly so. In a way, this incident is the tip of the iceberg. I am personally of the opinion that this is a crime not only against women but against humankind. And women and children are exploited on multiple levels in our society. This exploitation is sexual, physical, mental and even moral. The exploitation is not done only by men. The whole society is a part of it - men and women. As an artist and as a privileged human being, I feel responsible for these happenings in the very society which I am a part of. I make songs, not only for entertainment but for making this society a better place.

A few years ago I wrote and composed this song for a film called It's Breaking News. This song is dedicated to victims - victims of our society. Victims of rape, marital rape, child abuse, dowry deaths, one-sided love (if it can be called that), domestic violence, mental and sexual harassment at workplace - and finally us - we have been the victims of our own negligence.

The song has been sung by Hamsika Iyer.


हक़ीक़त ने ऐसा पकडा गिरेबाँ
और पड गईं सिलवटें ख़्वाब पर
ज़ुबाँ सिल गई है, बदन छिल गया है
और रूह रोती रही रातभर

दिन की रातें, रातों के दिन
जुग जुग लागे पल पल छिन छिन
मरते यहाँ हैं अरमाँ कमसिन
अंधेरों से गहरा नाता जुड़ा है
लेकिन उजालों से लगता है डर

एक ही छब और लाखों दरपण

ना कोई पर्दा, ना कोई चिलमन

दिल सेहरा और आँखें सावन

आँखों की बातें कोई न समझे

और हाथों की दुआ बेअसर

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© Kaushal S. Inamdar, 2012

Dees Tekala Dharela - My First Movie Song

Sharing with you my first ever film song. The film - KRISHNAKATHCHI MEERA -  never made it to the theatres but this song won the BEST PLAYBACK SINGERS for both the singers - Ajit Ankush Parab and Yogita Pathak. The song has some grand memories for me. The year was 2000.

Gajendra Ahire, director of the movie was also the lyricist of the film wrote all sixsongs of the film in a single day and I composed all six songs in a single day too! While I composed one song, Gajendra used to run to the elavator (to get some privacy!) and write the first line of the next song in the lift of my building! At 11 in the morning we had no song with us. By 8 o'clock the same day, we were ready with 6 songs!

The recording process was also great fun! We were all excited because it was our first movie! Kamlesh Bhadkamkar's first arrangement for a film and Ajit Parab and Yogita Pathak's first stint as playback singers. Not to mention my debut as a music composer! Avdhoot Wadkar of V2 Studio was not just a sound engineer, but a friend who was involved in the whole process like it was his own offspring.

To work with colleagues is work. To work with friends is fun!

The entire film was made in a budget of Rs. 10 Lakhs! So you can imagine what a budget we were working on. We had to create a world in NO budget! Even a shoestring budget would have been considered a luxury! Not only did I spend the entire amount on the production of songs, I also spent money out of my own pocket! But then it was the first film and love, innocence and excitement were major ingredients of the song.

The situation of the song is understood from the lyrics. The girl wants to go home and the boy wants her to wait. A classic romantic situation immortalised by Jaidev and Sahir in Abhi Na Jao Chhodkar!

Looking back at the song after 12 years, I would most certainly love to redo it in better circumstances. This song is perhaps raw and not so fine, but I love listening to it because it has got a soul! So enjoy the song.



© Kaushal S. Inamdar, 2012

Memories of Lokmanya

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak

The title is, I admit, a little misleading. I am generations away from having any memories of the person, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. But some historical figures hold sway generations after they have physically perished. And Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak definitely is one such figure.

My maternal grandparents lived in Pune. Their modest residence was bang opposite Kesari Wada, home of the legendary newspaper started by Lokmanya Tilak. My grandparents' house was our favourite destination during the summer vacations. My grandmother's brother, B.D. Kher, an accomplished author, had once been the executive editor of  Kesari. So, it was only obvious that Lokmanya Tilak was the first name that I heard among freedom fighters.

When I was in the first grade in school, an elocution competition was held in our school. The topic was Your Favourite Freedom Fighter. Would I have chosen anyone else but Tilak? My father wrote out that speech for me and the sentence, "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!" stuck with me.

My father, S.N. Inamdar, is an eminent lawyer. When I was ten, he took me to the Bombay High Court to see the inside of a real courtroom. If you feel that the presence of History is a contradiction in terms you ought to walk inside the gates of the High Court building! Echoing voices in the thick-walled corridors remind you of the echoes of the past. But I was in for yet another fantastic experience. My father took me to the very courtroom where Lokmanya was tried for sedition. In that courtroom now stands a portrait of Tilak with a plaque of his quotation - which was his statement soon after the verdict of his conviction was announced:

"In spite of the verdict of the jury, I maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations and it may be the will of Providence that the cause that I represent may prosper more by my suffering than by my remaining free."

Lokmaya Tilak's words, even today, startle me out of my lethargy. Men of wisdom come not just with passion, but their passion is led by their vision. It is a well-known fact that it was Lokmanya Tilak who started the Ganeshotsav (Ganesh Festival) and the Shiva Jayanti Festival to create an atmosphere of National fervour. Not even a visionary like Tilak could have imagined how the people of his own country would puncture his vision and make a mockery out of both these festivities. The Ganeshotsav in Kesari Wada however, remained sober and dignified model of what the Lokmanya had envisioned. Every year Kesari Wada sees the festival with a series of cultural programmes which are extremely rich in content.


As I grew up in a household that was fond of music and literature, I started dabbling in music, albeit on a very amateur level. My grandparents looked at my antics with great affection. If I was ever there in Pune at Ganesh Festival time, my grandmother took me to these cultural programmes in the Kesari Wada.

"It is my dream,"my grandmother used to say, "that you perform in the Kesari Wada Ganeshotsav.." The Kesari Wada Ganeshotsav was among the most reputed festivals in not just Pune, but in entire Maharashtra. I got into music professionally only after my grandmother expired and hence could not fulfill her wish of performing there in her lifetime.

It was this year that I got a call from my brother's good friend Sujay Natu, who asked me if I would be available to perform Kaushal Katta, my new programme, at the Kesari Wada Ganeshotsav. For me, it was an emotional moment. It had taken me 32 years to cross that street from my maternal grandparents' house to the Kesari Wada.

When on 22nd August, 2012 I performed my 5th show of Kaushal Katta in Kesari Wada, it was a moment of great emotional fulfillment for me. I was given the honour to lead the Aarti and offer my prayers to Lord Ganesh. When the programme ended with the Marathi Abhimaangeet, I could sense that all those people who came to meet me came with moist eyes. I could see that in spite of my own eyes being moist. There was something else that I could sense. I could sense the presence of my grandmother. I sensed that she was watching me with a satisfied look in her eyes. The Presence of History may not be such a contradiction after all!

© Kaushal S. Inamdar, 2012

An Imperfect World

Shreya and I

It was sometime last year that I got a call from one Mrs. Neeta Deolalkar. She said she was calling from an organisation called SWAYAM. I had a concert in Thane that day and she asked me if she and her daughter could meet me during the concert. She said that her daughter was a great fan of my music and would like to meet me. I always try not to disappoint my fans and I conceded to their request. After the concert was over Mrs. Deolalkar met me and said that her daughter was waiting in the wings to meet me and would I come to meet her. I wondered why the daughter could not come along with her mother, but I didn’t say anything. I followed her to the wings and was shocked to see an eleven year old girl in a wheelchair. 

Mrs. Deolalkar introduced me to Shreya, her daughter. Shreya was a victim of a condition called Cerebral Palsy. It took me a moment to come to my senses. The girl, Shreya, was confined to the wheelchair. She could not speak, had no control over her limbs. But she showed great pleasure and excitement as I stood by her and bent down. She was laughing and communicating with me and I felt handicapped as I found it difficult to understand what she was communicating. Yes, I was the handicapped one. Her mother understood her perfectly. 

“She likes your Marathi Abhimaangeet.” said Mrs. Deolalkar as she translated what her daughter was communicating with me.

Shreya gestured with her hands and head once again with fervour and excitement. Helplessly I looked at her mother again for help.

Trying to learn hope and happiness from Shreya

“She is saying that she also liked your song Man Tu Paar Utar Kahaan Jai Ho. She watched you on TV.”

I was battling hard to keep my tears from showing. I looked at Shreya. She was feeling happy that I was finally understanding what she was trying to say.

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking. More information about the disease can be found on http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001734/

It is easy to define a disease. An illness. But how does one define health? How does one describe it? Illness has symptoms. Health, on the other hand, has no symptom! And that is why we are seldom grateful for good health. There are too many things that we take for granted. Not only the fact that I can see, hear, walk, and talk is a blessing, but also that my body listens to my brain and vice-versa is a great boon.

It is an unpleasant realization that not all are as fortunate. To children affected with cerebral palsy and their care-takers every day is a battle. Things that we take for granted, don’t come easily to these children. 

In India, awareness and acceptance about this disorder are both low. The battle of these children and their caretakers can be made less painful, if we as members of a sensitive society come forward to contribute and give a helping hand. They don’t need pity. Pity is both, misplaced and useless. They need understanding and togetherness. We need to rid them of the feeling of isolation.

SWAYAM is an organisation which works for rehabilitation and care of spastics. (http://www.swayamspastics.org). 

On the 8th of April 2012, I am performing for them. The show is called MARATHI PAUL PADATE PUDHE (मराठी पाऊल पडते पुढे) and will be held at the Kashinath Ghanekar Sabhagruha, Thane (W) at 4:30 PM. The show is for raising funds as well as creating awareness about SWAYAM and its work. I am going to do the show FREE OF COST for SWAYAM, but I realise and feel that this is not enough. I also require your help to do something more. So, 10% of my every CD sold on that day at the venue will go to SWAYAM.

It is not unknown that the world that we live in is not perfect. And mind you, it is not because of these children that it is imperfect. It is imperfect because of our lack of understanding and sensitivity. Take one look at these children and their smiles will teach you a million things. The only thing that we can do, is give them some time. What they can do for you is much more precious. They give you HOPE.

© Kaushal S. Inamdar, 2012

Takraye Unse Naina

The song which seems from the 1950s was actually recorded in 2011 for a play by Manaswini Lata Ravindra - LAKH LAKH CHANDERI. The song has been written and composed by Kaushal S. Inamdar. It has been arranged by Kamlesh Bhadkamkar. Hamsika and Shruti Bhave have sung this song and Shruti herself has played the violin. Tabla - Mandar Gogate. The song was mixed in Ajivasan Studios by Mandar Wadkar. The entire song - lyrics, tune and arrangement and even the singing was so designed that it seems straight from the Hindi films of the 1950s. Shot brilliantly by Dnyanesh Zoting and Tanmayee Deo... the actors are Mukta Barve and Sharvani Pillai