It was to get a 30 minute slot for a programme on classical music that Durga Jasraj made umpteen visits to Zee office in 1992. Instead, she landed herself the glamorous job of co-hosting a game show on film songs, Antakshari. “Though I was happy that this gave me an opportunity to carve an identity, I did not let go of my dream,” she recalls.

Even as she was getting popular, she quietly worked on her pet project Utsav. The first draft was made in 1993 and sent to various artistes, Zakir Hussain and Shiv Kumar Sharma amongst them, to get their permission. And, after five long years Durga is on the verge of fulfilling her dream. She’s got a one hour slot for Utsav, not on Zee as she intended initially, but on STAR Plus.

The idea for Utsav germinated when Durga was doing Sadhana, a programme profiling the music maestros of India, telecast on DD. Durga recalls how R. Basu, CEO of Star Plus, gave her the go ahead for the serial as soon as he heard the concept. In fact, it was Basu who suggested that she profile musicians. “But,” says Durga, “I told him, I did not want to glorify musicians. I wanted to glorify Indian classical music.” According to Durga it was her clear perception of the concept that did the magic and she was immediately given a slot. “I am grateful to Basu for placing his trust in me and my concept,” she says.

Produced by Tarini Creations, Utsav is basically an attempt to narrow the gap of communication between classical music and the layman. “I want the layman to understand classical music and enjoy it,” says Durga who has either Pandit Jasraj, Zakir Hussain or Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma alongwith her as a star anchor in every show. Each episode focusses on a particular form of music and the celebrity explains the intricacies of the raag in a simplified, easy manner which catches your attention immediately.

Durga herself has donned the image of a person whose knowledge about classical music is nil and her questions reflect her ignorance. “I have deliberately portrayed a dumb image because I want to catch the viewers’ attention,” she states.

Efforts have been made to create an appropriate ambience in lieu with the mood and style of singing. Every artiste has a thematic entry. In an episode featuring Pandit Jasraj’s rendition of Adi Shankaracharya’s perception of Shri Krishna, there are four priests reciting shlokas as Pandit Jasraj enters. “These shlokas were penned by Shankaracharya to be recited before an artistes’ performance,” Durga informs. There are episodes on monsoon ragas, afternoon ragas, festivals like Diwali and Holi. Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma will be performing Sharad Pournima, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will play Mian Tansen, Zakir Hussain performs an episode on Diwali and Holi is celebrated with Shobha Gurtu’s thumri. Clippings featuring the artiste’s lifestyle will also be interspersed to make it more interesting. The programme, in short, is all set to be an audio-visual treat.

In fact, according to Durga, the channel is eager to telecast the series as early as possible. Durga, however, is taking her time because she wants to be perfect before going on air. “It’s the most expensive series to be made on classical music,” she reveals and emphasises that this is not an exercise for self promotion. It’s been a tough job for her balancing the artistes’ masterly performance with the visuals. “How was it directing the maestros,” we quizz her? “It was extremely embarrassing,” she remembers with an extremely embarrassing smile. “Many a times I had to ask the artistes for a retake on their entries because the camera would bungle up or something like that. While some agreed without a fuss, some of them would get irritated and wonder whether they had done something wrong?” Nevertheless, Durga feels that making this programme has been the most enriching experience of her life. A preview of the programme looks promising and we are sure it will be as enriching for the viewers too.