A global RIFF Maharaja Gaj Singh promises that the upcoming music festival will see a global connect

A global RIFF

Maharaja Gaj Singh promises that the upcoming music festival will see a global connect

In its sixth consecutive year, Jodhpur Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) has already become a landmark folk/cultural festival on the world map. And this time around, Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur, promises a larger audience and a bigger variety. “There's more variety — a special evening of qawaali; the late night 'desert lounge' with folk musicians and our first Carnatic violin performance by the duo Ganesh and Kumaresh from Chennai,” says the Maharaja who is most looking forward to hearing the collaborations between Mark Atkins (Australia) and Naadro (Sri Lanka); the Rajasthani main stage acts such as the Maand, Sarangi Special; and the many other international artists who'll be playing in India for the first time. The sixth edition is all the more significant to the Maharaja as it also marks 60 years of his accession. “It (Mehrangarh) has come a long way since I had my Raj Tilak here in 1952. To commemorate the occasion, at a public function this year, we installed an equestrian statue of Rao Jodha on May 12, the foundation day (1459 AD) which also happens to be the date of my accession,” he says. Also, the upcoming festival (October 26 to 30) will be the showcase platform for many international artists – as a part of the new association with Celtic Connections. “Celtic Connections (which takes place annually in Glasgow) is the northern hemisphere's largest folk festival. As a part of their showcase, India is the guest country in 2014 and Jodhpur RIFF is the festival of choice. There is growing interest in RIFF overseas. Already, it's been invited to present its work at festivals in UK and Australia,” he adds. The folk festival, says the Maharaja, is finding more urban listeners with its rustic texture, energy, high quality music, and an unbeatable setting. “There are more urban listeners for traditional music than before. Folk music has always been a part of our cinema too. So long as rural India occupied significant space in film, the folk tunes were central. From Gujarati garbas to Rajasthani maand, Kashmiri, Punjabi, UP and Bengali tunes, we have heard it all. The work of Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vishal Bhardwaj and Anurag Kashyap are noteworthy exceptions.”