Gujarati music has a lot to offer than just garba: musician Aditya Gadhvi

Mumbai, Oct 31 (PTI) "Gotilo" famed folk singer Aditya Gadhvi hopes that his song "Meetha Khara" for Coke Studio Bharat will break the myth that Gujarati music is all about garba songs.

The song, which released earlier this month and has 11 million views on YouTube, tells the story of bravery and resilience of the Agariya community of Kutch, who are responsible for majority of the salt farming in India.

It is produced by composer Siddharth Amit Bhavsar and features Gadhvi with young folk singer Thanu Khan and Madhubanti Bagchi. “The work of Gujarati folk music has been to tell people's stories through music. We wanted to break this myth that Gujarati music is only garba music. We could have done a garba song for Coke Studio too, but we thought we want to do something different to break that myth," Gadhvi told PTI in an interview.

“Mostly in film music, Gujarati music has been shown as garba music. And I'm glad that it has been shown. We love garba, but it is not only garba. Gujarati music has a lot to offer other than garba and Coke Studio has been a platform for us to show that,” he added.

Gadhvi said he grew up surrounded by music as his father was also a folk singer. Dreaming of becoming a playback singer in Hindi cinema, he joined Maestro A R Rahman music institute in Chennai, where he found his true calling in Gujarati folk music.

“After going to Chennai, I don't know how I got inclined towards my own music, Gujarati folk music. I started seeing it from a different perspective. I thought that there are a lot of things that have not been presented from Gujarati folk, Gujarati literature, that I, coming from that background, should present. That's how I started doing Gujarati folk music in a way that younger and even urban audiences like it," he said.

Gadhvi’s breakthrough moment came with the song “Khalasi/ Gotilo”, which took the internet by storm. The song, which released two years ago, has 173 million views on YouTube.

A collaboration with composer Achint Thakkar became an anthem for a new generation and showcased Gadhvi’s ability to make regional music universal.

Gadhvi said when he started, the folk music scenario was different but he feels blessed the new generation is picking it up.

“A few years ago, everyone wanted to go into Bollywood or wanted to do film music. But now the scenario has changed. People want to do regional music. When we started doing regional music, the scenario was different. People were more towards film music. And now we are seeing that people are loving regional music so much. So, we feel blessed,” he said.

Praising the vastness of folk music, Gadhvi feels one lifetime is not sufficient enough to explore everything.

“There is a vast ocean of music. One lifetime is not enough to present Gujarati folk. Just think about Indian folk. If just one region has such a rich heritage of folk literature and music, then whole India has so much to offer to the world,” he said. PTI SSG BK BK RB RB