Grammy-winner L Shenkar: People opposed to Hindu composing music for 'The Passion of Christ', got hate mails

The Master of Music concert in Mumbai has brought together an amalgamation of talents from Indian classical music. During an exclusive conversation with WION, Grammy-winning violinist, Laxminarayan Shenkar spoke about his participation in the concert. Shenkar seemed largely hazy on the details, and years when he made his accomplishments in the field of music.  

Tell us about your journey in Shakti?  

(A bit hazy on the details) Shakti started in the early 73. At that time we had a player Ramnad Raghavan who joined us from New York City. John Mclaughlin and I were also part of the band. We used to study together. Later Zakir Hussain joined the band. After that, Raghavan wanted to leave the band due to its high energy, and that's when Vikku Vinayakram joined us. So that is how Shakti started.  
 
So you won your Grammy in 1994 I believe? You have collaborated with some stalwarts from show business.  

Yes. I had worked on 'The Last Temptation of Christ' with Peter Gabriel. Martin Scorsese was the producer of the film. I was involved with another film, 'Born into Brothels', that also won the Oscar... I am not sure which year. Then, I also worked on Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of The Christ'. Yeah, I have made many albums and collaborated with various artists. 

India's #Grammy-winning violinist, L Shenkar (@TheShenkar), will be performing at Mumbai's Master of Music concert. During an exclusive conversation with WION's @amsam247, the musician shared that he once received several hate mails for composing the music for Mel Gibson's 'The… pic.twitter.com/8gRXsJHeMR

— WION (@WIONews) June 16, 2024

How important are these awards to you?  

They don't mean anything to me really. I am a simple guy. My parents used to say to bring awards etc. But over the years,  I have lost a Platinum Award that I had won. See what happens, when I get all these awards I keep them in storage. Many have asked me why you don't display them in your house or studio. But I don't like to do that. I believe you are as good as you are today. For me what is important is what I am doing now, not what I have accomplished. Honestly, I am not interested in the awards. But I cannot refuse some of them because that will affect the team.  
 
How important is this Master of Music concert for you?  

It is going to be an amazing concert, I know that. Percussionists like Vikku Vinayakram will be performing at the event. He is amazing, I used to perform with him even before the formation of Shakti. His son and grandson, V Selvaganesh and Swaminathan Selvaganesh will also be joining us on stage. They are all going to stun the audience with their performances.  

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Tabla player Fazal Quereshi will also be joining us. I have played with him a lot previously. So you see with this kind of a supergroup, I can say that this concert is going to be an extraordinary event.  
 
So, you studied Physics in college. Has anything from the subject helped you in your music career? 

My parents wanted me to go to college. They felt that I wouldn't be able to make a living by being a musician. But I wanted to do only music.  

I was a Physics major at Loyola College. I had a course called Sound. It was really amazing. Using that knowledge, I designed my violin, the 10-string stereophonic Double Violin. (Takes out the instrument and shows it to us). 

(The Double Violin covers the entire range of the orchestra: bass, cello, viola and violin.) 
 
What was the reason for changing the vowels in your name? Shankar to Shenkar. 

I changed it due to numerology. Also, when I did the music for the TV series, 'Heroes', my name would get credited as Shenkar. Then nobody would have any expectations from me. I remember when I was doing the music for 'The Passion of The Christ', I used to get a lot of hate mails.  

People would write to me 'You're a Hindu, how can you do the music for a movie on Christ'. But for me, music was my religion.  

So, when I changed my name and released albums, and solo records, they started listening only to my music.  

I was reading that your family escaped from Sri Lanka and came to India. Did you flee from the riots?  
Yes. Back then there were lots of riots. One day, one of the locals who worked with my mother told me to get out of there, or else rioters would lock my home and burn my house. So, we all escaped through a forest. We eventually shifted to India. 

Later in my life, I got involved in music because it gave me a lot of peace. I use my music to heal myself. I was deeply influenced by people like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. All of these in bits and pieces, helped me find peace.