Vasantrao Deshpande

Dr.Vasantrao Deshpande received training under different gharanas such as Gwalior (Pt. Shankrarao Sapre of Nagpur), Patiyala (Ust Ashiq Ali Khan of Lahore), BhendiBazar (Ust Aman Ali Khan in MUmbai & Pune), Kairana (Pt SureshBabu Mane in Pune). But with amalgamation of the stylistic nuances from all these gharanas, he made his own cast and it was popularised as "Vasantrao's own Gayaki". His concert was consists of Khayal, Thumari, Dadra, Natya Geet, Gazal etc. A perfect amalgam of traditional classical as well as light music. He had an equal command of both common and uncommon Ragas and a large repertoire of compositions. He was a multifaceted artiste - a vocalist, a composer, actor-singer, also an instrumentalist having good command on Tabla (he accompanied Pt Kumar Gandharwa on Tabla for several HMV 78 rpm recordings!), Harmonium and Organ (he used to accompany for Nagma to Ust Ahmadjan Thirkawa for Tabla Solo. He has played Organ in the famous Film song "Indrayani Kathi" sung by Pt Bhimsen Joshi), Sarangi. He also acted in Marathi fims, Sangeet Natak. Most popular of his Sangeet Natak was 'Katyar Kalajat Ghusali'.