TRINIDAD NEWSDAY - By SEETA PERSAD -The Carnival season is in full swing and “the women of chutney” are very much in demand at the many shows taking place on a nighty basis.
Ranking among those in demand is chutney diva Drupatie Ramgoonai, Hemlata Dindial, Sally Sagram and Arti Butkoon. All four gave excellent performances at the recent Chutney Soca Monarch (CSM) semifinal at Rienzi Complex in Couva.
While Hemlata did not make it to the finals of the CSM she remains hot on the list of female chutney singers performing at chutney shows.
Hemlata won three awards, including the top award of song of the year at 103 FM’s Hall of Fame and Music Awards ceremony held at Queen’s Hall in Port-of-Spain recently. Hemlata’s top recording, “Khaan Pe Na Dotiya” brought awards for Best Chutney Artiste and Best Musical Arrangement.
Despite the fact that she has a newborn baby she continues to produced top chutney selections for fans. Her songs include: “Sasou Hamaree”, “Binay Dekhey”, “Kaat Aur Jara” and “Kya Bole”. Her latest selection of “Hard Gayo Dey” has been ruling the local airwaves in the lead up to Carnival 2011.
Hemlata expressed disappointment at not being selected for the grand finals of the CSM saying that the promoters do not care about the artistes who have toiled all their lives to put chutney on the map in TT and the Caribbean. She said that they are not given the recognition they deserve. “I have seen where artistes just take a melody from the Bollywood film industry and just place in a few English wording and are scoring high in Carnival competition,” she said. She noted that promoters are indeed killing the art of chutney in TT.
Singing is in Hemlata’s blood, following in the footsteps of her mother, Dhanrajie Dindial. As a child Hemlata would accompany her mother as she sang in the rural village areas, going from house to house, performing traditional songs for Hindu weddings and other ceremonies. Hemlata’s sister Rasika Dindial is also an established chutney singer.
Drupatie on the other hand, has been at the forefront of chutney for more than three decades. She produced three songs for the carnival. They include: “Meh Lover”, “Brother Too Small” and “Jealous Lover”. She will be doing these songs in Skinner’s Park, a tribute to Calypso Rose for Carnival 2011.
Drupatie burst onto the local music scene with her mega hit “Mr Bissessar” and she continued to deliver top chutney selections since then.
The woman credited with having the sweetest voice in chutney, is back home after touring Europe for the carnival season.
“I have to be here for carnival. It is not only about me performing but me enjoying the songs by the other chutney and soca artistes in the country,” she said. Widely regarded as the original chutney diva, Drupatie has taken the indigenous music around the world but insists that she is happiest when performing in front of a home crowd. She adds, however, that some of her most memorable experiences included singing live in India before thousands of people with fellow chutney star, Rikki Jai and a show at Madison Square Gardens in New York with soca superstar Machel Montano.
Of the latter event, she said, “You know he was called to perform on this prestigious stage and he gave the people a taste of chutney and they went wild for it,” she said.
Drupatie ranks her musical collaboration with Machel on “Real Unity” as one of her best songs to date apart for“Mr Bissessar”.
Her repertoire back then included classical East Indian songs, bhajans and film songs. Later she did further vocal training in Indian classical music with the highly acclaimed Professor HS Adesh.
Drupatie recorded her first crossover song in 1987, “Chutney Soca”.
Over the years, Drupatie has released a string of hits, icluding “Pepper”, “Hotter than a chulha”, “Careless Driver”, “Motilal”, “Tassawalley’’, and “Manzalina. After recording “Real Unity” she went on to record “Mohana” “Bina Gowna, “Doh Beat Yuh Wife”, “Parosin Maco-ing”, “D wedding Song”, “Chutney Soca Wine”, and “The Violin”.
Also, no stranger to the chutney stage, the sensational, Sally Sagram is creating waves with her song, “Go So Nah”. She began as a side act during her two years with Spread Pal Crew but she broke the barriers early this year and has taken centre stage as a top solo act in the country.
