Saraswati Rane
Encyclopedia
Saraswati Abdul Rane was an Indian classical singer in the Hindustani Classical
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...

 genre. Daughter of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan
Abdul Karim Khan
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan , was an Indian classical singer of the Kairana gharana .-Early life and background:...

 (1872–1937), the founder of Kirana Gharana
Kirana Gharana
Kirana Gharana is one of the most prolific Hindustani khyal gharanas.-History:The name of this school of music derives from Kirana or Kairana, a town and tehsil of Muzzafarnagar District in Uttar Pradesh...

, her family had a long and great music tradition, she got her initial training of vocal music of Kirana Gharana style from her elder brother Sureshbabu Mane
Sureshbabu Mane
Sureshbabu Mane was a prominent Hindustāni classical music singer of Kirānā Gharānā in India.-Early life and training:Sureshbabu was born as Abdul Rehmān to Kirana Gharana master Ustād Abdul Karim Khān and Tārābāi Māne. Tarabai was the daughter of Sardār Māruti Rāo Māne, a brother of princely...

 and elder sister Hirabai Barodekar, who themselves were the doyen of Indian classical music of their times. Later she also sang along with elder sister, Hirabai Bododekar, the doyenne of Kirana gharana, especially in jugalbandi style.

Early life and training

Born on October 4, 1913 to Ustad Abdul Karim Khan
Abdul Karim Khan
Ustad Abdul Karim Khan , was an Indian classical singer of the Kairana gharana .-Early life and background:...

 (1872–1937), the founder of Kirana Gharana
Kirana Gharana
Kirana Gharana is one of the most prolific Hindustani khyal gharanas.-History:The name of this school of music derives from Kirana or Kairana, a town and tehsil of Muzzafarnagar District in Uttar Pradesh...

 and Tarabai Mane, as Sakina, she grew in a musical household. But after separating from her father, her monther, Tarabai renamed all her five children, hence Sakina became Kumari Saraswati Mane. She was initiated into music by her brother Sureshbabu Mane
Sureshbabu Mane
Sureshbabu Mane was a prominent Hindustāni classical music singer of Kirānā Gharānā in India.-Early life and training:Sureshbabu was born as Abdul Rehmān to Kirana Gharana master Ustād Abdul Karim Khān and Tārābāi Māne. Tarabai was the daughter of Sardār Māruti Rāo Māne, a brother of princely...

, later after 1930, she also started learning from her sister Hirabai Barodekar.

To enhance her musical knowledge she also got taleem (training) from ustad
Ustad
Ustad is an Arabized Persian word is a honorific title for a Muslim man in South Asia. The title precedes the name and is usually used for well regarded teachers and artists, most often musicians. It is applied and used via informal social agreement. It is abbreviated as ut. or ud.-References:*...

s of different gharana
Gharana
In Hindustani music, a gharānā is a system of social organization linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and by adherence to a particular musical style. A gharana also indicates a comprehensive musicological ideology. This ideology sometimes changes substantially from one...

s like nephew of Alladiya Khan, Ustad Natthan Khan of Jaipur gharana
Jaipur-Atrauli gharana
The Jaipur-Atrauli gharana is a Khayal-based stylized singing family-hood , founded by Utd. Alladiya Khan in the late 19th century...

, Prof. B. R. Deodhar and Pandit Master Krishnarao of Gwalior gharana
Gwalior gharana
The Gwalior Gharana is one of the oldest Khyal Gharanas. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the great Mughal emperor Akbar...

.

Career

Smt. Saraswatibai started her musical career at a very early age of seven years with stage acting in musical dramas like Sangeet Saubhadra, Sangeet Sanshaykallol, Sangeet Ekach Pyala etc. Right from her young age i.e. since 1929 she started acting in major roles with great noted artists like Balgandharva and many such noted artists in thousands of shows all over the country.

Since 1933, she started giving performances in Radio, when Akashwani was the then government institution. She gave her performances in All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...

 as a top grade artist till 1990, when she declared her retirement from public performances. She is amongst the few classical vocalist who have participated in each and every Radio Sangeet Sabha from Kanyakumari to Peshawar (now in Pakistan) from early 40's to mid 80's.

She was amongst the first lady to give playback for Hindi and Marathi films. Her first playback was in Marathi film Payachi Dasi, directed by Acharya Atre. Then she remained in the field till 1954. Her song from Hindi film Ramrajya..`Bina Madhur Madhur Kachu Bol’ reached the peak of popularity all over India and she was awarded by HMV for highest sale of gramophone records in those times.

She has also given playback for Hindi film, Sargam
Sargam (1950 film)
Sargam is a 1950 Bollywood family drama film directed by P. L. Santoshi and starring Raj Kapoor. A moderate box-office success, the film became the eighth highest earning Indian film of 1950, earning an approximate gross of Rs. 85,00,000 and a nett gross of Rs. 48,00,000.-Playback singers:*Lata...

(1950), and Bhumika
Bhumika
Bhumika is a 1977 Indian film directed by Shyam Benegal. The movie stars Smita Patil, Amol Palekar, Anant Nag, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri....

(1977), directed by noted director Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. With his first four feature films Ankur , Nishant Manthan and Bhumika he created a new genre, which has now come to be called the "middle cinema" in India although he himself has expressed dislike in the term preferring his work to...

.

She had an opportunity to sing under the music direction of great music directors like C. Ramchandra, Shankarrao Vyas, K. C. Day, Sudhir Phadke.

Smt. Saraswatibai was invited to participate on the eve of first independence Day at Delhi. Sahe was also invited to participate a grand celebration at Shivneri on the first Maharashtra Din by the then chief minister Late Yashwantrao Chavan.

In the same period she became very popular singer of Marathi light classical songs popularly known as Bhav-geet and her records got overwhelming response from all over Maharashtra.

She is among the few top artists of our country who has been invited in all the prestigious music conferences held at places like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Baroda, Bhopal, Gwalior etc. She often performed at the Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

's Sawai Gandharva Music Festival
Sawai Gandharva Music Festival
The Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav is amongst the largest and most popular musical festivals of Indian Classical music in India....

.

Saraswatibai and her elder sister Smt. Hirabai Barodekar are the first lady pair to start the concept of jugalbandi vocal recital by ladies. Their jugalbandi recital was appreciated all over the world and got an overwhelming response since 1965 to 1980.

Their jugalbandi long playing records and now cassettes are still in demand all over.

Though Saraswatibai was so much tied up and busy in her career, whenever she found free time, she carried on with work of teaching classical music to talented students, some of them are known artists in this field. Her grand daughter Meena Faterpekar is one of the very few female classical vocalists from Kirana Gharana perusing the same tradition.

Awards & recognition

Sarswatibai was awarded: 1. Balgandharva Purskar (Government of Maharashtra
Government of Maharashtra
Government of Maharashtra is the government for the state of Maharashtra in Western India.It is an elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the legislative assembly for a 5 year term.-Ministers:...

, 1966) 2. Balgandharva Gold Medal 3. ITC Sangeet Research Academy
ITC Sangeet Research Academy
ITC Sangeet Research Academy is a Hindustani classical music academy run by the corporate house, ITC Ltd.. It is located in Kolkata, India. Noted musicians associated with the academy include Ulhas Kashalkar...

 Award 4. Yeshwantrao Chavan Puraskar 5. Guru Mahatmya Puraskar (Maharashtra) 6. Ustad Faiyaz Ahmed Khan Memorial Trust (Kirana Gharana Award 1999)

External links


Prabha Atre
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK