Use modern tech in folk music, but preserve its originality: Malini

Kanpur: Renowned folk artist and Padma Shree awardee Malini Awasthi expressed her support for the use of modern technology to popularise India's folk songs and dances but emphasized the importance of preserving the ‘originality' of the art form in the process.
"A lot of people ask me how to make folk songs cool… but the fact is that folk artists are cool by their nature.Their innate characteristics such as personality, body language and mannerism are already very distinct," she said during a fireside chat at the TOI Dialogues Kanpur on Monday.
In reply to a question on using commercial platforms and modern music to popularise folk music, she said: "Pick it up from any part of India and folk music may be divided into ‘soul touching' and ‘foot-tapping' genres. Often it has been observed that in the bid to make it contemporary one ends up in turning soul touching versions into foot tapping ones. And sometimes, its presentation on the big screen is quite crude – something which may appear meaningless when seen in the light of the original form's beauty."
Stating that she was all for use of modern technology to enhance its quality and accelerate its reach, she asserted: "The attempts will truly serve purpose if they are able to conserve the essence and originality."
Her musically rich and chitty-chatty conversation, which earned several rounds of applause, was also marked by a few lighter moments.
But the larger takeaway was that folk traditions across India were more than just means of entertainment.
"There is no dearth of examples to explain that folk songs are full of lessons on ‘shishtachaar' and ‘lokachaar' (etiquette and ethos) which are passed on by one generation to another in an entertainingly emphatic way," she said adding that it was the responsibility of artists to put this source of wisdom in context to benefit the present and future generations.