The Thumri queen Girija Devi, the shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan and the famous Kannada poet Gopal Krishna Adiga’s life were narrated to the Bhopalites. On Friday, it was the second day of documentary film festival Vridanta.
Movies based on Gopal Krishna Adiga directed by Girish Karnad, Girija Devi directed by Vijay Chatterjee and Bismillah Khan directed by Dinesh Kumar Prabhakar were screened at Bharat Bhavan. The lives of these legendary artists were showcased in the documentaries.Gopal Krishna Agadi was a Kannada poet and is the pioneer of new style poetry.Girija Devi known as Thumri Queen Girija was an Indian classical singer of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas. She performed classical and light classical music and helped elevate the profile of thumri. She died on 24 October 2017.
Devi made her public debut in 1949 on All India Radio Allahabad but faced opposition from her mother and grandmother, because it was traditionally believed that no upper class woman should perform publicly. Devi agreed to not perform privately for others, but gave her first public concert in Bihar in 1951. Devi often toured and continued to perform in 2009.
Devi sang in the Banaras gharana and performed the purabi ang thumri style typical of the tradition, whose status she helped elevate. Her repertoire included the semi-classical genres kajri, chaiti, and holi and she sang khyal, Indian folk music, and tappa
On the other hand, Ustad Bismillah Khan was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument of the oboe class. While the shehnai had long held importance as a folk instrument played primarily during traditional ceremonies, Khan is credited with elevating its status and bringing it to the concert stage.
He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001.