Some couples have it lucky. While most husbands and wives get caught in a quandary about what to gift one another on birthdays and anniversaries, musicians can say it all with a song. There is no better proof of this than the very talented duo of Roopkumar and Sunali Rathod. The couple just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by releasing a lovely ghazal album titled Zikr Tera, their first in five years. Comprising of eight love songs of contemporary poetry that go beyond romance, the album is dedicated to Jagjit and Chitra Singh.
Says Roop, “This album is our tribute to the legendary duo whose contribution to popularising ghazals is unmatched. The title, Zikr Tera, also signifies that we are talking about Jagjitji”. It is significant that today Roopkumar and Sunali are the torch bearers of couples who sing ghazals.
Zikr Tera is being self released by the couple and not through a music label. “We wanted to retain the copyrights to the music and also ensure that the promotion for the album was an ongoing process. This is difficult when the album is with a music label as there can only be a window of time during which any one album can be promoted,” explains Sunali.
Bucking the trend of cheap and cheerful videos for non-film music that are the norm today, the Rathods have made four expensive videos for the album, which are being released at regular intervals. Shot at the Shiv Niwas, Royal Retreat and Gunther Maria Norrenberg in Udaipur, the richness of the locales and costumes brings out the mood of the music perfectly. Depending on how the music is received by audiences, the couple may decide to make videos for the remaining four songs as well.
Zikr Tera is an enchanting album that should find favour with listeners of all ages, and in particular with couples who want to say three magic words in a very special way.
ATUL CHURAMANI:
Atul Churamani is busy looking for a plaster cast and crutch. Having suitably modified his hairstyle a few years ago to look the part of ‘Legend of the Music Industry’ as he is popularly called today, he needs to upgrade. It’s ironic that someone who is banned from singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to ensure the celebrator’s birthday is indeed happy, is considered highly in the field of music! Not as an artiste but as someone who has spotted and promoted a number of successful Indian artistes over the years.
Atul, in fact has worked in pretty much every department of the music business from International music to sales and marketing to A&R. In a pinch he has also written books of accounts, making them resemble his dog eared notebooks in St. Columba’s High School in Delhi.
Atul is currently Managing Director of Turnkey Music & Publishing Pvt. Ltd., his own outfit that is looking to help independent artistes releasing their own music.
