Bollywood on the piano: Hyderabad-based classical pianist Mohit Dodwani celebrates Hindi film music

Mohit Dodwani wants to make the piano appealing to a wider audience. A Western classical pianist in Hyderabad, Mohit seeks to break stereotypes through Bollywood Soiree, an evening to celebrate evergreen Hindi film piano numbers.

“With all due respect to Western classical piano legends such as Mozart and Beethoven, we have conducted many concerts with their compositions. Yet Hindi music has never had a concert on a piano except in pubs. This concert is our way of bringing it to families,” says Mohit, founder of Klavier Academy in Hyderabad where he teaches.

This weekend, get ready to dance to Hindi movie songs in a 50-minute concert with a 20-song playlist spanning all eras and age groups. Performed by singers like Mohd Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh from the golden age of Hindi film music to current favorites Arijit Singh, Mohit Chauhan and Jubin Nautiyal, the repertoire has a bit of everything.

Mohit’s inspiration to learn the piano at the age of seven was Hindi film music when he heard his grandmother’s neighbor playing songs on the keyboard. “However, my (late) piano teacher Joseph Thomas, who I trained with for 10 years, told my mother that he didn’t teach Hindi movie songs. So I immersed myself in Western classical music, but the love of playing Hindi songs on the piano remained,” says Mohit, who has been playing the piano for 23 years.

Mohit Dodwani | Photo credit: special arrangement

Bollywood Soiree, he hopes, will break stereotypes that “the piano is a Western instrument, so only Western classical music should be played with it”, or “people trained in Western classical music are not open to play other types of music”. He admits, “Although it’s a bold move and it may go against tradition, I think it doesn’t matter as long as you connect with the music,” Mohit says. , adding that it also plays songs in Telugu, Tamil, Bengali and Korean. at the piano.

The interactive concert will also allow the audience to share special memories of the songs. “For the older generation, the very names of Kishore, Rafi and Lata put a smile on their faces; A little melody fills their hearts with so much joy, this is the connection that Hindi film music has with us.

Mohit firmly believes that the piano is the king of all instruments. “It can be a backing instrument and also have a solo show.” With piano teaching taking up most of her day – from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. with breaks in between – her biggest constraint has been time. “I don’t think I get enough sleep now,” Mohit says, “I’m so excited to try new ideas.”

Bollywood Soiree is at the Alliance Française on November 12, from 6:30 p.m.; Tickets ₹ 1000. For more details contact: 9963118309.