Through Khayaal – The Band, mother and son duo Vinita and Vinayak Gupta want to take classical music to the younger audience

Over the years, Vinayak has also been involved with music production and produced the album Seven-Aditya Jassi on Universal Records. Vinayak says for years he had been dreaming of creating something new with his mother. “We also wanted to change the perception of Indian classical music being very serious. We want to present the richness of this tradition in a manner that appeals to a wider audience and doesn’t intimidate them, without compromising on the purity,” adds Vinayak. With his mother, he has released an EP Inflections, featuring well-known musicians from the Delhi music circuit, including Sunny Dutta, Vaibhav Singh, Rajat Verma and Mayank Raina. He wants to launch Khayaal on YouTube.

Vinita has learnt music from the late Sharayu Kalekar and Vidushi Sulochana Brahaspati of the Rampur Sadarang lineage, and has performed at various prestigious platforms across the country. She is also the honorary secretary of the prestigious Indian National Theatre (a society for the promotion of art and Indian culture) in Chandigarh. “We sing only with the tanpura, and singing with an ensemble of musicians playing the guitar, sitar, saxophone, drums, flute, bass guitar was a bit of a challenge. Our music is melody-based and not harmony-based, so there were apprehensions. When I understood his philosophy that we need to reach people who have not been exposed to classical music, I decided to explore a new path,” says Vinita, adding that the show will present reinterpretations of traditional raag-based compositions, Sufi poetry and ghazals.

The band will perform on November 17 at Bal Bhawan, Sector 23, Chandigarh