Prithvi Gandharv, a well-known classical singer in the Indian music industry, has made a mark in the industry with his Ghazal and Sufi music. The singer famous for his rendition of 'Albela Sajan' in Bajirao Mastani, has performed more than 1,000 concerts with his own band all around the world. He made his Bollywood debut with the song 'Boyega' from the critically acclaimed film 'Myoho'. His latest original, 'Woh dekhna bhi, Jogi de naal, niyat e Shauq' has been loved by all.
At recent Ghazal evenings in six Australian towns, he played live alongside legendary Pakistani Ghazal artist Ustaad Ghulam Ali sahab and his son Aamir Ghulam Ali. The trio has also emphasised on the friendship between India and Pakistan as part of the show while promoting love.
"It’s difficult to put the experience in words. Every moment was a learning with him. I truly feel blessed to have performed on the stage with the one and only Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb. The cherry on the cake was the time that I spent with him, hearing his stories, riyaaz, his voice, his talks and more, during the Australia New Zealand tour. Aamir bhai is one of the most beautiful souls I have met. The warmth that he has given, will stay with me for life," said Prithvi.
Prithvi has also performed with stalwarts like Richa Sharma, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Sivamani, Ranjit Barot and the late Ustad Sultan Khan Sahab. "Performing with music stalwarts of this caliber always adds up to your learnings. I have learned a lot through their music. The understanding of genres that they sing, the performing skills, there’s a lot that I have learned under their aegis," he added.
Fourth generation musician Prithvi comes from a well-known family of musicians. He got his start in singing at a young age. He learned music from his parents and his maternal grandfather.
"To be born in a beautiful family of musicians who love what they are blessed with and are aware of their blessings is amazing. When I realised that music is what I am born to do, and I will do music in life, my family always supported me in every way since then. We do other things in between for fun but music toh chalta he rehta hai… harmonium hamesha khulaa rehta hai," says an elated Prithvi.
Prithvi's journey of performing in concerts began in an unexpected way. In college, Prthvi had already started singing scratches for composers. Once when his voice was being mixed in a studio, Shreya Ghoshal happened to hear it and asked him to accompany her as a singer for her world tour. "With no experience in singing live shows of big arenas, stadium concerts, etc., except the competitions, the opportunity came to me with a jolt but slowly and steadily I got used to it,"added Prithvi.
While working with various music composers he realised that he has a composer within me and started composing for some ghazal albums with Ustad Rashid Khan Saheb and Javed Ali to name a few. "My composer self is blessed to have noteworthy musical projects like these. As a performer and composer for Mahashivratri 2023, I recently released the Shiva song 'Shivoham' on Sufiscore," said Prithvi.
In the process composing music Prithvi's fondness grew for Ghazals and he started singing it. While people kept telling him that he will eventually become only a ghazal singer. He was all in to embrace the tag. "That’s how my journey began and here I am now. Slowly and steadily people are getting inspired and learning deeply about ghazal and its purity and I am elated to be able to contribute towards this art form with all my dedication," he added.
Talking about his inspiration, Prithvi says, " Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb, Jagjit Singh Saheb, Mehdi Hassan Saheb, Noor Jehan ji, Lata Mangeshkar ji, Nusrat Fateh Ali khan Saheb, Hariharan ji, and Madhurani ji have played a very crucial role in furthering Ghazal and sufi as the most-treasured music form across the world. They all have inspired me in their own ways to understand the deeper realms of this vast art form."
On work front, Prithvi is currently working on his original ghazals. He is also working on few OTT projects as a composer.
"The best part of these projects is that every ghazal, besides being released on audio platforms, will also be released in video form, said Prithvi.
