MUMBAI: Mar Jawaan fame singer Shruti Pathak started something unique back in 2013. Unlike most artists, she did not plan on just singing covers of old Bollywood songs, she moved her focus to ghazals. To promote this form of music she started a solo act Guzzler in the same year. To further promote her act she created a YouTube channel to run the Guzzler Cafe show. The format of the show sees a celebrity guest talking about his musical journey after which the celebrity and the band play a ghazal track.

The Guzzler Cafe has been running for more than three years now and Pathak wants to continue churning out episodes for the same. “Ghazal has its beauty with its words and its content to which probably the younger generation is aloof of. The music does not come across as relatable to them. So, to bring connect between the younger generation and ghazals, I recreate it in contemporary form. This is how I initially conceptualizing Guzzler Cafe.”

It’s Pathak’s passion for ghazals that makes her go the extra mile. “I grew up listening to ghazals as my father and my entire family used to listen to it. I have always loved that form of poetry. It was back in 2013 that I really wanted to do something with ghazals and I promoted Guzzler by turning RJ on Fever FM for 24 episodes. I interviewed 24 artist during my stint there,” revealed the singer.

Guzzler Cafe episodes are published twice a month on Shruti Pathak’s YouTube channel and artists like  Kavita Seth and Harshdeep Kaur have made an appearance on the show in the past.

Singer takes inspiration from Ghulam Ali, Mehendi Hassan, Hariharan and Jagjit Singh. “Jagjit introduced guitar and ghazals in the music industry. Also, they are an institution in themselves and I have learned a lot from them.”

Pathak’s efforts of bringing ghazal closer to the nation haven’t gone in vain. The response on her YouTube channel has been positive. “My target was to reach out to people and that has been achieved. Even the music industry has supported me, appreciated my work as well. I have got great reviews from them. This just inspires me to do a lot more in ghazals.”

She further added, “I think ghazals have always been a trend in India. It also created a marketplace in Bollywood industry in the late 80’s, while it faded out in the last one-two decades. But since the past few years, I am doing ghazals and I hear there are more people entering this space, which definitely make me happy.”

Also Read: Shruti Pathak launches her YouTube channel 'Guzzler Café'