The Melody Maker

A versatile musical talent, Bhandari has established his identity through the music he has directed for feature films

By THAKUR AMGAI

In the early 1980s, a boy, hardly the size of a guitar, used to sing and play music in almost all functions of the Mechinagar Multiple Campus in Ilam, an eastern district of Nepal. The students and the locals affectionately called him ‘phuchche kalakar’ (little artiste).

Bhandari : Career of Melodies

In a country, where scores of talents wane off in lack of opportunity, probably not many envisaged that the ‘Phuchche Kalakar’ (little artiste), would one day become a ‘lokpriya kalakar’ (popular artist) and the entire domain of Nepalese people would know their ‘Phuchche Kalakar’ as Tika Bhandari. His exceptional talents in music earned him a lot of praise and encouragement. But for a person with versatile talents a decision to take up music in future would not be considered wise. He had, ahead of him, a sound academic future that would easily open avenues for more promising careers while there was a grim prospects in music industry.

However, the strong desire and dedication towards music helped him become resolute. Without letting the academic strength die, Bhandari decided to put more focus on music studies. After passing high school, he went to Benaras to learn classical music from Guru Man Mohan. And interestingly, one and half decades down the line, Tika Bhandari became the gold medalist (university topper) M. A. (political science), a subject with no relation to his profession.

Born in 1965, in Jhapa, Bhandari was lucky to get a the support of his family, where talent in music would be encouraged at home. With music directors like Chandra Babu Bhandari and Rudra Babu Bhandari at home, little Bhandari’s inclination towards music got flourished. It is these people who taught him to play musical instruments like violin, guitar and took him to college functions to perform.

After earning a musical degree from Benaras, Bhandari came to Kathmandu in 2044, and took a test for musicians at Radio Nepal . Proving his knowledge and skill in music he stood first out of dozens of contestants. For the next half a decade Bhandari played music for scores of songs. He says he has played mandolin for almost 4,000 songs, the highest number in Nepal .

Soon after Bhandari joined Radio Nepal , he composed music for the song ‘Saun Hainan Mera Najar’ sung by Nagendra Shrestha. He also recorded a song ‘Jeewanko Yatra Bhari’ in his own voice. But, the trend of singing soon discontinued after his music composition started to be better liked by the audience and the music fraternity.

However, Bhandari’s musical course took a swift turn from composing music for modern songs and singing when he got a break to compose music for feature films. As he was composing music for ‘Bahadur’, a feature film directed by Ashok Shrestha, the producer of ‘Bihani’ also offered him to compose music for his film. Then came the ‘Gaunle’ with its super hit songs like ‘Suna E Aakash, Suna E Dharti’ among others. The release of these songs lifted Tika Bhandari to new heights of popularity. He soon became a sought after music director for producers who started seeing their success in commissioning a popular music director.

The songs of ‘Gaunle’ became so popular that its sale crossed the five-figure number and it won the Highest Cassette Selling Award from music Nepal . Instantly, offers thronged Bhandari’s desk. “At one time I composed music for up to six films,” said Bhandari.

Bhandari got a break from the heightened momentum of his busy schedule, as the market of the Nepali feature films started to plummet. Bhandari utilized this time to resume his education.

Surprising most of his fans and fellow professionals he won the gold medal from Tribhuwan University in Masters in Political Science, not quite a common feat for artiste. Despite such bright prospects to pursue a career in academic sector, Bhandari is dedicated to his passion of music.

Last year, he traveled to America to participate in the conference Association of Nepalese of North America (ANNA). Bhandari performed various musical programs amongst the 3,500 participants in the conference. From instrumental shows of typical Nepali folk melodies like, ‘Kafal Pakyo’, ‘Pahad Basi, Banma Hurki’ and ‘Kanchhi He Kanchhi’ to evergreen classical of Narayan Gopal, Bachchu Kailash and Natikaji, Bhadari enthralled the Nepalese living in US and reminded them of their home country.

In return Bhandari, too, was induced to become more patriotic by the utter nostalgic feeling of the Nepali diaspora. “On visiting America and interacting with the people there I felt, in myself, an increased sense of responsibility to my society and the country,” said Bhandari, who had one of his albums released at the same function in US. He also said that the changes in his feelings can be noticed in the songs to come.

Bhandari has composed music for over 400 songs including modern and songs for 25 different feature films. He has lent voice to about 3 dozen songs. In addition, as part of his profession, he has created scores of advertisement jingles and educational and health promos.

In recognition to his contribution to Nepali music Bhandari has been felicitated by several organizations, won ample contests and has bagged many awards. He stood first in All Nepal children songs music competition in 2053 and in All Nepal modern songs music competition in 2055. He is also the winner of prestigious awards like ‘Narayan Gopal Youth Outstanding Music Award’, ‘MN Award’, and ‘Youth Excellence Award’, among others.