Mohan Upreti
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mohan Upreti was a renowned[citation needed] theatre personality from Almora, an ancient town in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, a northern state of India. He is remembered for his immense contribution to the Kumaoni folk music and for his efforts towards preserving old Kumaoni ballads, songs and folk traditions.
[edit] Early career
As a young man in the 40's and 50's of the last century, Mohan and his equally enthusiastic and later on, equally renowned personality[citation needed], B.L. Sah went around the remote regions of Uttarakhand, and made it their sacred mission to collect the fast vanishing folk songs, tunes, and traditions of the region and preserve them for posterity.
[edit] Further Information
In addition to this immensely valuable work, Mohan was instrumental in bringing the Kumaoni culture into national focus by establishing institutions like the Parvatiya Kala Kendra in Delhi ("Center for Arts of the Hills") which, at one time[citation needed] was quite active in producing plays and ballads with strong roots in the Kumaoni culture.
He is particularly remembered for his epic ballad "Rajula Malushahi", his deft presentations of the traditional Ram-Leela, and the play "Haru Heet". He provided music for a number of television productions in the 80's, and his compositions were noticeable for the distinct Kumaoni folk touch.
[edit] Thanda Matlab Coca Cola
Most of India has not heard about Mohan Upreti, but it is one of his tunes that the whole country is familiar with - courtesy Prasoon Joshi - the Golden Lion winning ad man, who himself is from Kumaon - who used it for his "Thanda Matlab Coca Cola" ad campaign for the cold drink. The tune being hummed by the guide in the "Pahaari Guide" episode of the mentioned ad is "Bedu Paako Baar Maasa" - a creation of Mohan Upreti.
