There's more to Bhojpuri music than thumkas

If you've watched any of my music videos, you'll know they are meant for a family audience. The songs won't make you cringe if you're sitting with your parents or children," says popular Bihari singer, Bharat Sharma Vyas, as he speaks to us from his hometown, Buxar, in eastern UP. The 58-year-old has been credited with the revival of lok geet since his arrival on the Bhojpuri music scene in 1971. Vyas is now set to give Mumbai a taste of his compositions in an upcoming Bhojpuri concert, titled Uncomparable - Live in Concert (lok sangeet) later this month.

Stills from Surabhi Sharma's documentary show a Bhojpuri concert in Mumbai

"There's a sizeable Uttar Bhartiya population in Mumbai, who migrated from UP and Bihar in droves to make a living. Being away from home, they are always up for recollecting their culture through such music gatherings," says Vyas who has released more than 250 music albums till date. The concert aims to promote the lok sangeet culture among the city's Bhojpuri community and help them find a sense of identity.

Surabhi Sharma and Bharat Sharma Vyas

"There's more to Bhojpuri music than risqué songs. We have ghazals, devotional songs, folk music and Nirgun (songs sung in mourning)," says Vyas, who will cull songs from these genres in his two-and-a-half hour show. "The lyrics are relatable even if you don't speak Bhojpuri, but understand Hindi," he says.

In 2013, filmmaker Surabhi Sharma explored Mumbai's underground Bhojpuri music scene through her documentary, Bidesiya in Bambai. "The Bhojpuri music is thriving here. And, it's not just famous producers and singers who are releasing new VCDs, albums and CDs but ordinary people like taxi drivers and bus conductors," she says. While there's a song for every occasion, the theme is mostly migration and the pain of living away from home. "The bhakti songs will draw parallels between man leaving home and soul leaving the body. But, the raunchy ones will be about a woman mock complaining about how the brother-in-law is trying to seduce her while her husband is away," she says. Sharma, however, believes it's erroneous to conclude that only the migrant classes are the consumers of such music. "Everybody listens to all sorts of music. You'll also have labourers listening to bhakti sangeet. It depends on the occasion. For example, on Chatth puja, you'll never get to hear anything crass." The songs, sometimes, even have a strong political flavour. "Biraha is a socio-political commentary on issues, and popular with the masses," she adds.

Sharma's documentary was inspired by her 2008 film, Jahaji Music: India in the Caribbean that looked at the strong Bhojpuri flavour in Caribbean music. "This was due to the massive population of East Indian indentured labourers, who were brought by the British to work on the sugar and coffee plantations of the colonised islands. Most of them were natives of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal. They later settled in Guyana, Trinidad and Jamaica after the British left," she reveals, adding that it's interesting to see elements of harmonium, tabla, dholak and dhantal in Carribean music.