The Music of BHOPAL

The script of Bhopal includes a poem, Zahreeli Hawa (Poisonous Breeze), contributed by the late Dr. Habib Tanveer, the celebrated director and playwright, who was a friend of the playwright Rahul Varma.

Shubhangi Sakhalkar — a well-known Bay Area Hindustani classical vocalist and teacher — composed, directed, and sang a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Zahreeli Hawa for our show. Her song imbues the play with an evocative emotional resonance. In addition, Shubhangi composed and performed the aalaaps used in the play as scene transition and underscore music. Her music is a vital element of our show, seamlessly blending with the narrative and imbuing it with an evocative emotional resonance.

The other musicians and technicians who worked with Shubhangi to create the music are Vivek Datar, Amol Chiplunkar, Saket Joshi, Atul Vaidya and Sanjay Adkar.

Shubhangi Sakhalkar, a Hindustani classical vocalist, has been teaching and performing for over thirty years. After beginning her musical training with Smt. Kunda Vaishampayan, she went on to learn for several years from the renowned stalwarts Dr. Prabha Atre and Smt. Padma Talwalkar. Shubhangi has performed widely all over India and the US. She is widely recognized as one of the finest exponents of Hindustani classical music in the United States.