Singer who opened up for Maharashtra a treasure trove of north India's images through ‘thumri'

Hindustan Times

08-06-2025

MUMBAI: Her deep, focussed voice could mine myriad images from the folds of a vibrant 'dadra' or a soulful 'thumri', thus celebrating the beauty and timelessness of folk music, which defines India's ethos and raison d'etre. Needless to add, Shobha Gurtu, the 'thumri' queen, remained peerless both as singer and performer.
A musical soiree was recently held at the Swatantrya Veer Savarkar auditorium at Shivaji Park by the cultural directorate of the state government to commemorate Gurtu's birth centenary; and more such concerts are being planned through the year, a directorate official told HT on Friday.
According to experts, to Gurtu goes the credit for having brought the richly nuanced music of the Indo-Gangetic plains down the Vindhyas, to Maharashtra, thus providing a counterpoint to the austere 'khayal gayaki' of which the state became a melting pot in the nineteenth century, an abode of countless 'gharanas'.
'Actually, ghazal and 'dadra-thumri' were an integral part of Shobhatai's growing years. What makes her so special is her ability to internalise all influences — that of her mother (noted danseuse-singer Menakabai Shirodkar) and her guru (Ustad Ghamman Khan, the sturdily built and kind-hearted doyen of the Gwalior gharana), and map out her own course,' said Neela Bhagwat, the renowned exponent of the Gwalior gharana. 'Shobhatai redefined 'thumri' and put her own stamp on it. It wasn't enough for Shobhatai to be a Siddheshwari Devi (the legendary 'thumri' singer) clone. She took ahead the latter's content and craft. Also, Shobhatai remains unique for her voice projection.'
Gurtu's 'thumris', belted out in a husky voice, welcomed harvest and 'Holi', while her ghazals celebrated love, loneliness and lust. 'Toone yeh kya sitam kiya' and 'Garmi-e-hasratein nakaam se jal jaate hain', for instance, were a rage at concerts.
According to Bhagwat, a Gurtu concert was 'abundantly delightful'. 'Shobhatai would be lost in her own reverie—sometimes contemplative, sometimes playful. She did many 'abhinaya'—her eyebrows arched, a mischievous glance at someone seated in the auditorium whom she had chosen that evening for a dialogue (once it was thespian Nana Patekar) through her music, while her hands executed an eye-catching 'mudra', all done with great dignity and a radiant smile. Actually, she sought liberation through her music; and in as much as this, she was a feminist,' said Bhagwat.
Pandit said, 'Shobhatai's music had a great depth. The 'bhaav' (mood) was the soul of her personality and music.' Recalling her long association with the singer, Pandit said, 'Shobhatai's 'thumris' would often puzzle me as there was no path laid out for a student. A 'khayal' composition has set rules: right notes, precise 'taal', a cohesive 'taan' pattern and so forth. However, a 'thumri' lets you go footloose, and that's its strong point. She would not teach us within a framework. She would just begin to sing and allow us to meander through the secret chambers of a composition. I slowly began to discover 'thumri' and the guru too.' Gurtu was simple, down to earth and a warm person, she added.
Entrepreneur Priya Gurtu described her mother-in-law as a 'noble soul, free of rancour and ill-will.' 'A 'pucca' Goan, Aaiee (mother) was 'susegaad',' she added. Trilok, Gurtu's son, is an internationally acclaimed drummer; Ravi, who died young, was an ace musician in filmdom, while the youngest Narendra is an entrepreneur with a flair for the tabla.
Music buffs said Gurtu would take a 'raag' and turn it into a 'thumri', often blending two 'raagas' to add texture to composition. Many Gurtu songs attract countless views on the YouTube: for instance, 'Sawan ki ritu aayee sajaniya', the straight-from the-heart 'kajri'; 'Rangee sari gulabi chunaria' and 'Chaitar chunari rangaa de'. Also, her film ditties —'Nathaniya ne hai Ram bada dukh deena' ('Sajjo Rani') and 'Sainyya nikas gaye' ('Main Tulsi Tere Angan Ki') —are equally popular.
Gurtu received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1987 and 'Padma Bhushan', the country's third highest civilian honour, in 2002 followed by the Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar and the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar.
Among her admirers were Lata Mangeshkar, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansoor, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Zakir Hussain and Kishori Amonkar. In fact, Kishori, Shobha and Prafulla (Dahanukar, the eminent painter) were great friends — 'The Goa Girls' Club', as Gurtu would joke. The troika challenged the patriarchal order in music and the arts with guts and gusto.
Gurtu was born in February, 1925 in Belagavi, Karnataka, and died in Mumbai in September 2004.