Spirit W | Durga Jasraj's Idea Jalsa: 7 notes of music, 7 years, 7 mediums

Over the years, women in India have witnessed a quiet revolution. May it be with family, their career or even where pursuing their chosen vocations or hobbies are concerned, they are realising their ambitions remarkably well and are far ahead of their counterparts in other countries around the globe. One such woman who has made a name for herself in the field of music is Durga Jasraj. She started her career as a classical vocalist when she was only seven. After making her acting debut in Ketan Anand's Aaja Meri Jaan (1993), she acted in TV series like, Chandrakanta (1994). She performed as a Hindustani classical singer and along with her father for many years. Till date she continues with music-related ventures.

She has conceived, produced and co-hosted the largest platform for all genres of Indian Music - IDEA JALSA. First telecast on Doordarshan on 27th May 2006 the series was later aired on Zee TV and 165 countries worldwide. Idea Jalsa concerts were held across 12 Indian cities in 2006. Jasraj has also organised ‘Tiranga’ concerts in several parts of India.

Idea Jalsa is not a soap, reality show, pop-music nor is it Bollywood but Music for the Soul. Idea Jalsa that has emerged as the largest multi-media platform for all forms of Indian music live performances provides a diverse collection of timeless content.  May 27, 2013 marked the completion of 7 years since the unique property was conceived, and successfully adapted to various multi-media formats like live concert, webcast, radio, television, audio cd, inflight programmes and hotels.

Idea Jalsa that started with one channel, and one slot has now managed to be featured across various channels that includes the terrestrial Doordarshan and many satellite channels.   International telecast on the leading Zee TV network of 165 countries has ensured a world-wide footprint of Jalsa – ensuring that audiences across the world are exposed to Indian Music performances across various genres in a contemporary fashion.  The show that achieved a distinction of surpassing 100 million (10 crores) viewers in 2011 is already on the way to achieve 150 million (15 crores) viewers soon.

Speaking to Adgully, Durga Jasraj shared how Idea Jalsa is one destination for different forms of Indian music and how it’s rich legacy is making waves in the international scene.

Idea Jalsa – Music for the soul concert is unique in the sense that this concert travels to various destinations rather than being held at one single venue. Sharing the thoughts that led led to this unique idea, Jasraj said, “Way back in 2006 when we started off with Idea Jalsa, our endeavour was to let the audiences in general and youth in particular discover the hidden treasures of Indian Music that has a rich legacy, and a versatility unparalleled.  Despite the progress of technology, the Live Experience is what people cherish, and hence the need for putting together events in different markets where you have the artistes perform.” 

She continued to say, “The key is in creating the platform that entailed the creation of an event with a popular appeal e.g. festivals or cultural programmes. The challenge has been to evolve a new type of presentation to seed an appreciation for music and general and traditions in a contemporary style.” Hence they   have been able to successfully connect with the audience in general and youth in particular.

Being one of the largest concert tour in its category , Music for the Soul -- Idea Jalsa has been travelling through the various states of India. Elaborating on their experiences and how well it has been received in the different parts of the country she said, “Our emphasis is towards promoting all forms of Indian music by providing suitable platforms for the Next Generation of Musicians thus achieving credible recognition in all components of the music industry.”

Some of their varied performances  include that of one on a beachfront in Vishakaptnam on R.K.Beach that featured Vidwan T.M.Krishna's carnatic vocal followed by 3 generations of Vikku Vinakayaram's family performing together on stage. Many tourists especially foreigners were inquisitive and made it a point to attend the concert.  Shantiniketan is famous as a world famous university and a center of learning. It is here that the Desikotam (Doctrate) recipient Sangeet Martaand Padmavibhushan Pandit Jasraj performed to packed audiences. Listening to bhajans of Anup Jalota would seem normal, but imagine the setting of Tulsi Ghat on the bank of the river Ganges that enlivened his performance.  Another of their famed performances has been Pandit Ratan Mohan Sharma's concert in Udaipur at a venue like Shilpgram where in the middle of the concert, it rained, yet the crowds  patiently listened to the melodious Rajasthani folk music reverberating from the stage. Rimpa Siva and Master Yeshwant created history in Bhopal by being the first male-female tabla percussionists to be featured in a duet.  Also in an effort to take music to a mall environment, Mandolin U.Srinivas and Hariharan have performed to enthusiastic  packed crowds and  to audiences in Andheri Sports Complex that featured Ankita Joshi and Shankar Mahadevan.

“Over the years we have almost covered the length and breadth of the country with our on ground concerts, followed by Idea Jalsa Talent Hunt that involved touring 39 cities in 22 months.  The Idea Jalsa – Music for the Soul Concert series in 2013 is India’s largest concert tour where we covered 12 cities with over 100 artistes covering on ground audiences of about 30,000 in a span of two months,” informed Jasraj.

Today there is no doubt that our rich legacy of Indian music is helping the youth to connect to their roots , culture, music and a heritage that has been left behind by the legends and maestros of the country. Jasraj agreeing with this fact said, “'Idea Jalsa', the largest platform for different genres of Indian music, enriches the audiences musical experience.  Over the years, the advent of satellite television, FM radio, CD, MP3 players, and Internet has changed many things.  With so many new styles emerging, rarely did anyone attempt to try and adapt Indian Music to the changing medium. Television as a medium posed a challenge in terms of format. We aimed to get a 30 minute sponsorship for a 30-minute weekly program about classical music on TV, and present our own traditions in a manner that's contemporary and relevant, thus making the youth connect to their own culture and music.”

Their endeavour has been to provide a platform for not just the legends, but the upcoming and promising artistes by presenting them an opportunity to perform in front of large audiences.  “We have thus achieved our   goal of  connecting with the youth.   The objective for attracting the audience was to present a crisp introduction of the art form and the artiste, thus getting them interested in their own journey of exploring an artiste,” she added

When asked about the redesigning  aspects of Performing Arts that the Jalsa experience has initiated she said, “Music is our core, multimedia is the value addition or show packaging that we do, and world wide are the key markets where we spread the concept  not events. Redesigning Aspects of Performing Art, i.e. presentation on stage, styling of clothes, conversing with audiences and getting intimate with them, etc. have become a normal habit since the Jalsa experience.”
Today the use of technology, i.e. LED walls during TV performances, have not just enhanced the overall presentation, but also stepped out of the archaic forms of visual appeal.  Their challenge is to evolve a new type of presentation to seed an appreciation for music and general and traditions in particular. Leveraging television as a medium, and evolving the format suitable for viewers was the first initiative that was taken by them.    

Jasraj stressed to say, “Here we would like to make a distinction, which is very much in our company vision:  To emerge as the largest non-film Music Producer who showcases and monetizes IP Content worldwide.  We provide services in the areas of Music-Multimedia-world wide. Over the years we have created a huge repository of music in different formats. We conceive and produce content through music across television, live events, radio, digital, etc. We then market this proprietary content across new mediums such as VAS, in-flight, in-room, etc.  We have evolved much beyond just event-organizers, but to producers who would add value to a programme.  We work as content providers and producers, and maintain this role, hence we work closely with embassies, corporates and institutions across the globe.”

The diverse forms of music from Idea Jalsa have been adapted to different mediums and been enthralling music lovers globally. The expansion of Idea Jalsa on the television medium too has been exceptional . Following are some of their statistics from previous editions of Idea Jalsa across mediums:

• 65% of the TV audience is 4-34 years age group, i.e. Youth and Young Adults form the majority of the audience (Source: TAM). SEC A and B comprise half the audience on Zee TV.
• Radio: 4 channels of AIR FM Gold (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai) resulted in a cumulative reach of 3.7 million listeners – reaching 26% of Delhi’s population.
• Facebook Page: Launched in May 2011, with 80% of the followers being in the 18-44 years age group.
• YouTube videos have ~ 1 million upload views (cumulatively).
• In Flight entertainment on Air India showcased Jalsa performances 1.3 lakh times in 3 months with 2.4 million passengers travelling during that period.

Describing the journey of Idea Jalsa  which started off  from one channel and one slot to various channels across Terrestrial and C& S Networks Jasraj said, “‘Idea Jalsa – Music for the Soul’ has witnessed enthralling performances by not just music legends, maestros and star performers, but even young and talented performers sharing the stage and gaining valuable exposure.” She went on to add, “ At Art and Artistes (A & A), we pride in being an integrated entertainment and music production company that has evolved to conceptualize, produce, and execute music based entertainment solutions across all platforms, e.g. television, on-ground, radio, albums, mobile, etc.” 

Their strengths as a unique Proprietary Content Producer, in the Indian entertainment sector, has been to deliver value to companies by applying music based solutions for marketing needs. This they have done  by conceiving and producing content across mediums, markets proprietary content to emerging sectors viz. VAS, in-flight, in-room, etc. & geographies.  They have emerged as the largest producer of Indian music content through global multimedia partnerships.  From this year onwards, in a new initiative Idea Jalsa will have live webcasts on Youtube thus enabling audiences across the world to watch live concerts.

Idea Jalsa- Music for the Soul has partnered with Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla company and collaborated with them for this unique Indian music project. Explaining their partnership  Jasraj said, “Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla Group company, has partnered with us in the unique Indian music project, right from its inception in 2006 and are helping us take ahead the concept of presenting Indian Music in a contemporary form and connect with audiences at large.”

On a concluding note she added, “We are thankful to Idea for their continued support to us in providing a platform to entertain and enthrall the audience with music and other forms of entertainment.”