Durga Jasraj

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Durga Jasraj
Born (1971-09-12) 12 September 1971
India Mumbai, India

Durga Jasraj (12 September 1971) is an Original Content Producer, focussing on creating indigenous IPs and formats for multiple mediums, viz. Live, Television, Online, Mobile VAS, Radio, CD/DVDs. She founded "Art And Artistes (I) Pvt. Ltd.", an entertainment programming company in 1999. She subsequently co-founded Indian Music Academy (IMA) in 2006.[1][2]

Early life

Durga Jasraj was born in Mumbai to classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj [3] and Madhura Pandit. She has an older brother, music director Sharang Dev. Her maternal grandfather was legendary Bollywood director V. Shantaram.[4]

Career

Durga started her career as a classical vocalist when she was only seven.[5] After making her acting debut in Ketan Anand's Aaja Meri Jaan (1993), she acted in TV series like, Chandrakanta (1994).[6] She performed as a Hindustani classical singer and along with her father for many years.

Television presenter

She became popular on Zee TV's show, Antakshari as a co-host with Annu Kapoor during the 1990s.[5]

She co-founded Indian Music Academy (IMA) in 2006,[5][7] with her father as a chief patron. The organization promotes various forms of Indian music. It was formally inaugurated on Feb 18, 2006, by then-President A P J Abdul Kalam at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.[8]

Today, IMA also helps old and ailing musicians to get urgent medical attention. It now holds the annual IMA Awards[3] In 2007, the Indian Music Academy the awards were given away by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Recipients include Carnatic musician Balamuralikrishna, playback singer Asha Bhonsle, music composer Ilayaraja, Hindustani classical singer Girija Devi and sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan.[9]

She has conceived, produced and hosted the largest platform for all genres of Indian Music - IDEA JALSA. Idea Jalsa was first telecast on Doordarshan followed by Zee TV and now in 165 countries worldwide. In India, the telecasts have reached out to more than 14 crore unique viewers (140 million).

Idea Jalsa Live Concerts have travelled to more than 50 cities across India and in the latest series beginning in January 2013, reached out to 7 crore (70 million).[10][11]

Durga has also conceived the first Musical and Poetic depiction of a National Flag in the World, viz. "Tiranga" a production that has also travelled across the world.[12]

She served an active and full term as a Board member of the Censor Board of India.

Personal life

Durga Jasraj got married at the age of 18 and was divorced at 21.[1] She has a daughter, Avni who is leading the Digital division of the company, viz. Art And Artistes Digital MediaWorks.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The perks of being Durga Jasraj". DNA (newspaper). Jun 14, 2007. 
  2. ↑ "NEW WOMAN: The perfect manager". Indian Express. September 19, 2002. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Help for old and ailing musicians CNN-IBN, Nov 29, 2010.
  4. ↑ Jai ho! Jasraj The Hindu, Oct 08, 2007.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Bollywood has helped independent musicians: Durga Jasraj South Asia Mail.
  6. ↑ Durga Jasraj at the Internet Movie Database
  7. ↑ "About IMA". IMA. 
  8. ↑ "Finally, musicians get their due". The Indian Express. Feb 18, 2006. 
  9. ↑ "Indian Music Academy awards presented". The Hindu (Chennai, India). Apr 10, 2007. 
  10. ↑ It’s aesthetically different The Hindu, October 15, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Different folks, different tunes: The Indian Music Academy will begin its series of `Jalsa' concerts from Hyderabad". The Hindu (Chennai, India). May 24, 2006. 
  12. ↑ "Music legends to light up Tiranga". The Times of India. April 16, 2005. 

External links

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