Sourav Ganguly wishes luck to Dona Ganguly-Prodyut Mukherjee Rhythm Express fusion project

The project, titled Rhythm Express, was originally created by GiMA Award winner Tabla maestro, composer and new age percussionist Pt. Prodyut Mukherjee along with legendary Mohan Veena maestro, Grammy Award winning musician Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, who also composed the melody. 

The project fetched the duo an award in the 2016 edition of Global Indian Music Awards (GiMA) for its album Moods.

Speaking about his latest collaboration with Dona Ganguly, an Odissi exponent,  Mukherjee said, "I wanted to present Indian Classical music in a different way. Over the years, we have lost listeners of classical music and I wanted to get back their attention through fusion...Dona ji is by far the best Odissi dancer I have known. No one matches up to her level of perfection when it comes to dance."

"The idea of Rhythm Express is to promote Indian classical music and reach out to a wider audience," he added.

Asked if Bollywood music is responsible for the wane in listeners of Indian classical music, Mukherjee disagreed and said, "No, I don't think so. To score music in Bollywood, you need to have a base in Indian classical music. These days, a lot of songs in Bollywood are using classical music instruments. Indian Classical music is India's heritage, the main source...everything that has come so far, has been derived from the main source."

On his collaboration with Bhatt, Mukherjee said, "Bhatt ji has been with me since the beginning of this project. I am proud to have performed with such artiste."

Asked what inspired her to take up the project, Dona Ganguly said it was a new experience for her.

The Odissi exponent said, "It was a new experiment. We have music in our dance routines, so we tried and experimented with his (Prodyut Mukherjee) music."

Speaking on the growing affinity of Indian towards Western dance and music and if that will be an alarming issue in the future, Dona Ganguly said, "Look it works the other way too. Like Salsa and Jazz in India, a part of the western population are taking up Indian classical dances. Many of our pioneers have settled abroad, which only indicates that they have takers there and our culture is accepted by those countries. Now, the reason it feels a lot more in India is due to the vast population."
  
Meanwhile, Sourav maintained that his relationship with his wife has got nothing to do with her profession.

Extending his greetings, Sourav, who is popularly known by the moniker Dada, said, "I come from a complete different world, but whatever they do, my wishes will always be with them. My relation with my wife has got nothing to do with cricket and dance, it’s a healthy husband and wife relationship. I met dada (Prodyut Mukherjee) through Dona. I wish them all the best."   

Reporting by Suman Das

Images by Subhodeep Sardar/IBNS