BACK TO BICHOLIM FROM BOLLYWOOD

by Frederick Noronha
fredericknoronha@gmail.com

Do you remember hit Bollywood film songs like 'Aansoo Bhari Hain Yeh Jeevan Ki Raahein' (from the film 'Parvarish'), 'Chun Chun Karti Aayee Chidiya' ('Ab Dilli Door Nahi') or 'Masti Bhara Hain Sama' (also 'Parvarish'). The man behind these and scores of other hit songs of yesteryear was lying, ailing and forgotten, in a small village outside Goa's dusty mining heartland, when I came across his story via the Net.

Music director Dattaram Wadkar, more popularly known just as 'Dattaram', now resides in Maulinguem in Goa's Bicholim taluka. Independent music director for nineteen films, his work might be a refrain on lips across India, but there are few to take care of him after his return home to Goa.

Dattaram also rendered music in the Bhojpuri and Magadhi languages and for a Marathi film 'Preamchi Savali' which starred prominent cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. His major contribution was as assistant to Shanker Jaikishan from 1948 to 1974. He was in charge of the rhythm section and his name appeared in the credits of most landmark Hindi films of this period. Dattaram is credited with having improvised and innovated many a rhythm which is taken as a standard even today. Said a fan of his, who has been trying to get help for the ailing musician, "Ask a pro from the Hindi film music fraternity in Mumbai, and anyone will tell you about ‘Dattu Ka Theka'''.

While trying to track the story of this ignored son of Goa from those who knew about it, what emerged was fascinating....

Somewhere in the early forties, young Dattaram made his way to Mumbai and began working in the docks as a labourer. Poor and not really educated, he had learned the tabla for a few years, mainly encouraged by his mother who was a local singer.

Dattaram was an enthusiast at a gym where he met Shanker and became his disciple for the tabla, and also joined Prithvi Theater as a helping hand with music. He worked on many films as a 'theka' player for rehearsals and finally completed his first recording for the film 'Nagina'. After that there was no looking back and he made major contributions under the 'SJ' (Shanker-Jaikishan) baton.

Dattaram became an important member of the RK Group, as it was then called. He worked closely with the likes of Raj Kapoor, Shanker-Jaikishan, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. Part of this team was Sebastian D'Souza, the great arranger who also hailed from Goa. Dattaram incidentally is the only surviving member of this team.

Through the fifties and sixties, Dattaram found himself close to Jaikishan, who expired in 1971. After the decline of the Shanker-Jaikishan team, Dattaram found himself at sea. He worked with other music directors and was Raj Kapoor's trusted man when he worked on the music for 'Bobby' with Laxmikant Pyarelal. Later he chose to retire and return to Goa.

Said one of his fans, who has been visiting the artiste's tiny village off Goa’s beaten track, "Dattaram's health has been rather unstable ... mind you, he otherwise had a robust physique and till two years ago was strong. He underwent two massive heart attacks recently and needs (at the time of initially writing this article) to undergo a gall bladder operation for which he does not have the funds."

Veterans in the music world believe that Dattaram's contribution has, sadly, not been sufficiently recognized. Apart from his contributions to music, he also gave breaks to numerous artistes in the sixties and seventies.

"The film industry, being what it is, little can be expected. But even the governments, central or local, have not really helped this senior artiste," said a fan.

Dattaram's plight was discovered quite by accident by a media professional who was researching for a film script on the life and career of Shanker-Jaikishan. Tracing through newspapers, magazines and books led him to Dattaram. But it was very difficult to trace this artiste, and it took him a year to finally reach Dattaram! "I located him and went across to meet him. He was extremely gracious and we spent three days together," says Pune-based media professional Sandeep Apte. Others who realised the man's contribution, formed a felicitation committee called the Dattaram Sanman Samiti. They organized a program on April 26, 2003, the Shanker anniversary. Dr. Padmanabh Joshi of Ahmedabad, who had written a biography of Shanker-Jaikishan, made an audio-visual presentation about the team and excerpts of a video interview of Dattaram were featured. A purse of Rs.35,000 was also collected. Others involved included Prof. Atul Sapre, Film & TV Institute of India former dean Samar Nakhate, Mumbai-based graphic designer Kamall Mustafa, Pune-based doctor Prakash Kamat, Internet entrepreneur Randhir Dange, the Director of the Institute of Management Development & Research (Pune), Dr A P Bhupatkar and media professional Apte.

"We seem to have a terrible apathy about our culture even as it gets shaped by these very people. Because senior artistes are treated badly, it creates the ultimate misunderstanding about how we value our people. And we end up neglecting the very things we should be valuing in the first place," said one of those closely connected with the event. It is a known fact that artistes from the tiny state of Goa, 600 kms south of Mumbai have made immense contributions to Hindi film music. But today, most Goans themselves seem unaware of it.
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Frederick Noronha (42) is a Goa-based journalist, photo-enthusiast, book reviewer, Free Software proponent, ICT4D (information and communication technology for development) campaigner, copyleft backer, and believer in the need to build social capital. He has been long associated with Goanet (www.goanet.org) as a volunteer, through which network he circulated many of his "brieFNcounters" interviews.