Kommune, India’s acclaimed cultural storytelling hub, concluded the two-day celebration of music, words, and everything love, Spoken Fest—Asia’s largest spoken word festival—in Mumbai on February 2nd, 2025. The evening brought together the brilliant singer-composer-producer Shankar Mahadevan and the founder of Kommune India, Roshan Abbas—for an unfiltered conversation that delved into the heart of music and creative synergy.
It was an eclectic mix of storytelling and music, where Shankar Mahadevan spoke about his life in music through memorable music performances and stimulating conversation. From the opening moments, Mahadevan transported the audience back to the genesis of his journey. He talked about how he was comfortable with this corporate job as well as doing music. The Grammy-winning singer took a call at the age of 26-27 to leave his job at a reputed software firm that provided a cushioned life in the USA with financial stability and pursue his passion for music full-time. He told his boss, “Sir, mujhe career change karna hain kal.” He knew that the path was foggy and the future was unstable, but without this leap of faith, Mahadevan said, he would not have been where he was today.
Both Roshan Abbas and Shankar Mahadevan took a trip down the memory lane of how, when ‘Breathless’ became a raging hit, the singer did his first corporate show with Roshan, underlining the friendship that they have shared for almost 30 years.
During his music performances, Shankar was joined by the rising music star and actor Souumil Shringarpure of Bandish Bandits fame. The night came alive with breathtaking renditions of some of Mahadevan’s most iconic songs, including ‘Breathless’, ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, ‘Mitwa’, and Marathi hit ‘Sur Niragas Ho’. Each note served as a reminder of the timeless impact of his music, leaving the audience spellbound.
He also gave the audience a glimpse of his thinking process and the joy he finds when music and lyrics come together when Abbas asked him an interesting question. Roshan requested him to break down the music for an engineer, taking a deep dive into the technicalities of music, a one-of-a-kind experience to delve into the mind of the maestro.
With reference to his popular song, ‘Mitwa’, he explained to the audience, “You can deconstruct any melody to its relevant sargam. It is like any program if you break it down into its relevant, equivalent binaries. Music can represent a playground, where you can freely dance, play, and jump around. The binary layers are sargam, the lowermost layer. It is the spelling of ‘Mitwa’. If you remove the sargam, then the melody comes. When you put lyrics on the melody, it becomes a song. The application of classical music comes here. Why should you learn classical music? For the application of it, and to sing a harkat in ‘Mitwa’.”
While talking about the new wave of musicians, Shankar Mahadevan fondly reminisced about late Zakir Hussain, saying, “When I was in junior college, my dream was to meet the band members of Shakti. The most phenomenal band that pioneered taking Indian music to the next level. We used to go to a cassette store, ‘Embassy,’ in Chembur, and it was like a masterclass. I used to ask Zakir’s brother, Fazal, to make me meet Zakir Hussain and click a picture with him and Shakti. If you put it out there and manifest it very strongly, the universe definitely gives it. I ended up touring with ‘Shakti’ for 25 years. When I used to be on stage, I used to wonder if it was a dream. I just wanted to meet them, and now I am sitting on stage with them. The word ‘Tabla’ has lost its meaning after Zakir Hussain is no more.”
The singer also took the audience through the journey of how the trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, came together. While Shankar used to sing jingles for advertisements, Ehsaan and Loy were reputed producers already. Their frequent studio hangouts fostered a creative partnership of 30 years. He chronicled the journey from making and producing the biggest hit, ‘Sabse Aage Honge Hindustani’ for a shelved film, ‘Dus’, to not having any contractual relationship for all these years. It is sheer love, friendship, and respect for each other’s ideas that has kept the trio going!
Shankar Mahadevan also gave a memorable performance of ‘Breathless’, which gave him fame when it came out in 1988. He talked about how the song came about during an intellectually intense conversation with Javed Akhtar. Before ending up performing the song not once but twice, on public demand underscoring the enthusiasm that the audience at the festival brought during the session.
Furthermore, he also gave a glimpse into the success of Shankar Mahadevan Academy, which uplifts the spirits of people who struggle with illness, pain, or a lonely heart with the power of music and partners with hospitals, care centres, and senior-citizen communities to stage free online concerts by musicians.
The conversation was one of its kind, where the artist immersed himself in storytelling, along with a live performance. It was only possible through a platform like Spoken Fest, where artists find experimental ways to express themselves and present their craft. The veteran producer was very amazed by the vibrant crowd at the Spoken Fest Mumbai 2025, who were constantly cheering, hooting, and instilling great energy in the atmosphere. Appreciating the display of this great enthusiasm, Shankar asked Abbas where he brought such a high-spirited audience from, praising the fest’s essence of bringing such an energetic community together.
