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A production still from \u2018The Shape of Sound\u2019. Credit: Madhu Apsara.<\/p>\nSeven years ago, a young sculptor from Varad village in Malvan was asked if he could craft two unusual wooden figures \u2013 the heads of the mythological serpent Vasuki and a peacock. For Kunal Joshi, the challenge was two-fold: he was unfamiliar with wood and he had no clear idea what these animal heads were meant for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought they were to be used as mementos or show pieces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It took him six months to painstakingly chisel away at blocks of Burma teak to shape the figures and dispatch them. Only months later did he learn their purpose: they were to bookend a priceless old rudra veena belonging to Bahauddin Dagar.<\/p>\n
The musician was seeking to restore the instrument once owned by his father and was crafted in 1960 in Calcutta by the master luthiers Kanailal and Brother. His father, the rudra veena legend Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, had redesigned the rudra veena to produce a lower octave that would match the human voice. To this, he added the beautiful end pieces for a reason: the Vasuki would reduce tension on the strings, while the peacock head would contain a chamber, allowing for greater resonance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could find no one to restore the veena and thought that I could start by just getting the Vasuki and peacock made and then see if its maker could go further,\u201d recalled Dagar.<\/p>\n
Joshi would uncover all this only when he landed up at the ustad\u2019s dhrupad gurukul in Panvel. This was in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic had forced him to extend his stay there and the magic of the veena \u2013 its profoundly deep bass resonance \u2013 drew him into a study of the instrument\u2019s sound and structure. Over the next two years, guided by Dagar, he learned to deconstruct and then reconstruct the veena step by step. Today, five veenas owned by Dagar\u2019s students are Joshi\u2019s handiwork, and he now offers Dagar-style veenas to any musician seeking one.<\/p>\n
A production still from \u2018The Shape of Sound\u2019. Credit: Madhu Apsara.<\/p>\n
The story of this remarkable creative journey \u2013 where art, material, music and the science of sound came together under a master musician\u2019s innovative mentorship \u2013 is the subject of the short documentary The Shape of Sound. Produced by the Film and Television Institute of India, it is directed by renowned sound engineer and designer Madhu Apsara, who has collaborated with Dagar for over two decades.<\/p>\n
Why this experiment became necessary is, in itself, a fascinating story, one that traces back to the rare and precious nature of this instrument. Known to be notoriously hard to master, the rudra veena has counted only a handful of true practitioners at any point in history. Extinction always looms close, not just for the art, but for its making as well. Today, with one or two exceptions, most of the old master luthiers have stopped crafting the rudra veena.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole project came from my fear that there will be no veena makers left,\u201d said Dagar, an eclectic artiste with varied interests and a young, dedicated following. \u201cI needed someone to join my journey to find an avenue out of the crisis by mentoring fresh talent in the art. Kunal was a godsent and some of my other students are learning the craft as well. In fact, Shibu Maity, who has been cooking for my household, is now an expert at filing the bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Joshi, it was a revelation to move from being a sculptor to an instrument maker, discovering how lifeless material could become a vessel for exquisite music. \u201cThere are so many more details to pay attention to while crafting the veena, nearly 70-80 parts to put together,\u201d he said. \u201cThe smallest error can be ruinous. But a good instrument produces a sound that can give so much joy, like watching the badmast chaal (swagger) of an elephant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Magical spell<\/p>\n
The Sufi Inayat Khan Dargah sits in the heart of Delhi\u2019s Nizamuddin basti, an oasis of quiet amid the bustling neighbourhood. Every three months, on the fifth of the month, Bahauddin Dagar offers a recital as a hazri at the shrine. It is a recital without percussion, allowing you to hear the delicate musicality of the veena, a practice that Dagar favours.<\/p>\n
The rudra veena has always carried an aura of high mysticism. An entire world of myths, miracles and superstitions surrounds it and practitioners still subscribe to these beliefs to varying degrees. Some of its most renowned legends were men of deep spiritual inclination across faiths \u2013 Dattatreya Rama Rao Parvatikar, Shamsuddin Faridi Desai, and Bande Ali Khan, among them. Contemporary artists of the form firmly believe that the art has yogic and intangible dimensions, extending beyond the purely physical and material.<\/p>\n
At the dargah, Dagar plays a raga Malkauns that is remarkably sublime. In an age when instrumentalists often chase ear-splitting volume to impress, he prefers to keep it low, letting the veena weave its mellow magical spell.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the old days, the veena was played in massive interiors of palaces, temples and forts, the sound travelling across and bouncing off stone, beams and arches,\u201d said Dagar. \u201cIt may be soft but it has a lot of resonance and overtones and a certain circularity that could carry across distances. It is a sound that does not die easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is a sound ethic that Madhu Apsara understands and translates perfectly for Dagar. A student and longtime associate of the musician, he is deeply attuned to Dagar\u2019s philosophy of how the veena should sound on stage. For at least 25 years, they have worked together to ensure that amplification does justice to the veena\u2019s unique tone. It was this partnership that inspired the sound engineer to shoot the 20-minute film documenting the collaborative experiment between Dagar and Joshi.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt [The veena] is a quieter instrument, and [its] sound is very tender, so it needs faithful amplification and reproduction to retain the original microtonal clarity,\u201d said Apsara. \u201cWe keep the volume purposely low so that the nature of the instrument is retained. This also quietens the mind of the listener so they start hearing the nuances. We do this even in big concerts. Silence is very important in our music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lofty stature<\/p>\n
Apsara\u2019s film documents an interesting aspect of Dagar\u2019s work with his instrument. With the near-disappearance of legacy veena makers, it is those from non-musical backgrounds who are preserving the craft \u2013 Joshi, Maity and Apsara, among them.<\/p>\n
There were once dedicated pockets of veena-making expertise across India, primarily in Vadodara, Meraj and Calcutta. Names like Kanailal, Mangala Prasad and the Mistry family are among the most renowned in the field. But it is not an easy craft to sustain: it takes at least two years to craft a single instrument, and with declining performers and audiences, demand has dwindled.<\/p>\n
\u201cKanailal stopped making the veena and I had no one to turn to when I wanted to restore my father\u2019s veena,\u201d said Dagar. \u201cMany makers also bought into the superstition that if they make a flawed veena, their families would be cursed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A production still from \u2018The Shape of Sound\u2019. Credit: Madhu Apsara.<\/p>\n
By the 1990s, finding a maker had become nearly impossible. As a result, many veena players had no choice than to become adept at making and repairing instruments, as 55-year-old Dagar learned early in his life.<\/p>\n
Like many youngsters rebelling against the weight of a colossal legacy, Dagar had not immediately taken to the veena, even though its sound filled the 1-BHK Chembur family home. He began his musical journey on the sitar, learning under the tutelage of his mother, Pramila Dagar. As a teen, it was rock, jazz, and pop that captured his imagination. \u201cI would play that at loud volumes, and my father was not the forceful type \u2013 he let me be,\u201d he recalled. \u201cBut I was intrigued by the sound of the veena.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A production still from \u2018The Shape of Sound\u2019. Credit: Madhu Apsara.<\/p>\n