The foyer of Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao concert hall, teeming with elderly men in veshtis and women in silk saris and dazzling diamonds, looked as if Mylapore had been transported to Chetpet. The magnetic force that brought together all these music aficionados was one name - M.S. Subbulakshmi.
The event titled ‘Isaiyin Imayam: M.S. Subbulakshmi,’ presented by Kaustubha Mediaworks as a tribute to the legendary singer on her 99th birthday, was an evening of celebration through music and dance.
The divine voice could be heard singing ‘Arulpurivay Karunaikadale’ even as the curtains went up to reveal a stage studded with her photographs. It was an apt occasion to honour the contributions of MS’s fellow musicians such as Dwaram Mangatharu and R.K. Shriramkumar (violin), Guruvayoor Dorai and K.V. Prasad (mridangam), Vikku Vinayakaram and Subhash Chandran (ghatam), Ganeshu Venkatraman and Vijayalakshmi (tambura) and her loyal caretaker, Visalam mami. Kamal Hassan did the honours.
The stage was set for Sudha Ragunathan, who kept the audience enrapt with some of the songs popularised by MS amma such as ‘Jagadodharana’ and ‘Bhavayami Gopala Baalam’; the vocalist’s rendition was soothing and melodic. Nithyasri Mahadevan put her soul into ‘Maname Kanamum Maravadhey’ and the evergreen ‘Giridhara Gopala’ from the film Meera.’
The two singers then came together for ‘Kuraiondrum Illai’. Getting two singers of the calibre of Sudha and Nithyasri together on a concert platform was indeed a novel idea. It would have been more interesting if the concert had been woven around a theme. Many of the songs sung by MS are popular in Bharatanatyam performances. Madhusudhan and Vyjayanthi choreographed a medley in a narrative format which their troupe danced with commitment, competence and appropriate costume. However, for the Bengali song, ‘Doritho Dharini Gange,’ the use of white fabric to depict the river could have been avoided; it was rather amateurish.
The evening gained momentum with harikatha by Manikandan. With a touch of humour, he narrated stories and anecdotes from MS’s life. Her devotion to the Kanchi paramacharya came alive in his presentation, striking an emotional chord with the rasikas. The talented youngster J.B. Keerthana added lustre to his talk with her evocative rendering ‘Dolayam’ and ‘Maithrim Bhajatha.’
Adding a fresh edge to the evening was fusion music by Nivas and his group comprising Raghavendra Rao (violin), Arun Kumar (drums), Kishore (mridangam), Prakash (mandolin) and Aalap Raju (guitar). The immense talent was evident in their score for ‘Mathe Malayadvaja’ with young Spoorthi on vocals.
MS amma’s ‘Bhajagovindam’ is a morning prayer, a daily ritual in almost every household. So one needs to tread carefully while attempting to try something new with it. The fusion of instruments here detracted attention from the bhakti aspect of the composition.
It is heartening to see such programmes being ideated, but it is also important to condense the ideas into smaller segments so that audience interest is sustained.
