Javed Akhtar opens ‘Soundscapes of India’ Season 2 with reflections on art of creation

The Samvet Auditorium at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) came alive on Monday as the second edition of Soundscapes of India, the country’s first curated music showcase festival and global conference, opened to a full house.

Organised by the Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS) with support from the Ministry of Culture and MusiConnect India, the three-day event celebrates India’s musical and linguistic diversity through performances, dialogues and collaborations.

Padma Bhushan Javed Akhtar, who serves as the Chairman of the IPRS, set the tone for the festival with his trademark wit and honesty. “Poetry is the music of language and music is the poetry of sound,” he said during his special session, The Art of Songwriting, exploring the delicate interplay between rhythm, meaning and emotion. For Akhtar, the connection between verse and melody is not just artistic but philosophical, echoing Pythagoras’ ideas of proportion and harmony.

True to his reputation for forthrightness, Akhtar dismissed prose poetry as “a deception,” saying that without rhythm and melody, it loses its essence. “If it were poetic prose, it could be justified but poetry without music is like a song without sound,” he remarked.

He also touched on the decline of lyrical depth in contemporary writing and cinema, linking it to society’s changing priorities. “When education becomes only about employment, it loses its relationship with imagination,” he said, lamenting how the motive of learning has drifted away from understanding.

On AI, Akhtar was equally uncompromising. “AI may assist, but it cannot create. Art is born in the no man’s land between the conscious and subconscious mind,” he said, drawing applause from the audience.

Describing Soundscapes of India as a “showcase of talent, not a talent hunt,” Akhtar said the initiative aimed to connect India’s vast creative pool with the global music industry. The festival features over 100 artists and 24 bands performing in multiple languages, from Hindi and English to Ladakhi, Tamil, and Konkani, along with delegates from 15 countries including Japan, Portugal, South Korea, Jordan, France, Indonesia and Germany.

Among the participating acts are folk-fusion ensembles, indie bands and experimental musicians who represent the evolving soundscape of modern India. The event also features an exhibition of rare instruments and interactive sessions on songwriting, music technology, and cross-cultural collaborations.

Reflecting on the growing global recognition of Indian artists, IPRS CEO Rakesh Nigam noted that the first edition of Soundscapes of India had propelled acts like Bawl Mon and Taal Frey to international stages. “This festival bridges creativity and opportunity,” he said.

As the festival continues till Wednesday, the lawns and premises of the IGNCA are set to offer plenty for music lovers as the event gradually unfolds.

When education becomes only about employment, it loses its relationship with imagination...In the pursuit of greater financial success, much was left behind, and among those things were our literature and language

Rs Javed Akhtar, renowned lyricist and writer