MUMBAI: Everyone wants to follow their heart, but few are actually successful at it. Let’s have a look at an inspiring story of Ameya Dabli, an artiste with a holistic approach to music.
“Since my childhood I wanted to do something for the society and give back to it in some way.” Ameya was a corporate professional with a cushy job and a hefty salary to take back home. A Chemical Engineer by qualification, Ameya was initiated in music at quite an early age. “My mother, Anuradha Dabli, is a PhD in Music. So, my introduction to music has been since then. Now, I am taking classical music lessons under the tutelage of my guru Devaki Pandit,” shares Ameya.
Although he is a musician, what sets him apart is the discipline of music that he functions in. He dons many hats in music field itself; he is a performer, he is a curator of music events under his banner AD Ventures, and now also venturing into theatricals. Ameya is also a pioneer in something unheard of till date.
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While we have wedding planners in dozens, who plan everything for a wedding from cocktail to Mehendi to reception, the actual wedding rituals are often ignored. “I figured out that there 22 rituals that happen at weddings, but they are usually side-lined in the excitement of other tamasha. So, we at AD Ventures came up with this concept of chanting the shlokas at the wedding and more importantly explaining the meaning of the rituals and shlokas. Till now the response has been humongous, especially at destination weddings,” explains Ameya.
No wonder, he is a preferred choice for weddings as he has introduced a new trend of “Wedding Chants and Musical Pheras” where he creates a mesmerizing ambiance and grips audience attention by combining music to the chants during the wedding rituals.
Ameya started AD Ventures three years ago, and his friend Purvi joined as partner two years ago. The main aim of this venture is to spread music globally. They are creating IPs, that are already on roll. Being trained in semi-classical music, he has also cut an album called Ekam Satt-One truth, One Humanity, World Music, which will be followed by part two. What’s more, the same will be converted into a theatrical soon.
Ameya adds, “In a month’s time our theatrical with Shiamak Davar will be on stage. The theatrical has verses of Kabir, to Tulsidas, to Guru Nanak. But we have contemporized it by composing it to music that is relevant now. Music is arranged by R S Mani, who has arranged for movies like Veer Zaara.” The theatrical has the showman of Bollywood, Subhash Ghai, involved too.
As mentioned earlier, Ameya has always had an inclination to give back to the society, and therefore he has done free of charge shows for the families of armed forces, which was received with extremely positive response. The show Ekam Satt has travelled across the globe and has got exclusive invite from Indian Commission in London. Having arranged music for a spirituality-based album Devdhideva, which alone got six million views in no time, and being a part of Art of Living Satsangs, reflects on his spiritual connect.
AD Ventures curates’ music events under the title ‘Heart To Heart’, which presents artistes of all genres, from Sufi to Ghazal and has seen artistes like Ustad Rashid Khan, to Rakesh Chaurasia perform for it. He himself has performed over 1500 concerts across 15 countries.
Apart from the theatrical and the ongoing shows, Ameya is also in process of making an album for teenagers to deal with mental stress of exams.
On singing off note, he shared his thoughts on the current music scenario, “It’s great to have peppy and fast paced songs, as that is what the youth demand. All music is good, but if the essence and the meaning is lost then the purpose too is lost.”
