At least five aspects of the recent ninth anniversary celebrations of msvtimes.com at Sir Pitti Thyagaraya Hall in T. Nagar made the event unique. The forum dedicated to the legendary film composer M. S. Viswanathan, has members for whom music and melody begin and end with three letters — MSV. It was a poignant moment when Sriram Laxman of msvtimes flagged off the evening’s programme saying that it was the first anniversary without the luminous presence of MSV. “But he has left behind his harmonium as referee to keep a watch on the proceedings,” he said pointing out to MSV’s harmonium that had been deferentially placed on the dais.
With love for MSV as the propelling force, going beyond their means, every year the website honours two musicians of the composer’s troupe. “This year we are blessed with benevolence from P. Susheela Trust and a few others ,” said Sriram. ‘Shehnai’ Sathyam and ‘Mandolin’ Raju, whose prefixes say enough about their prowess on the instruments, were honoured. P. Suseela presented the citation and a purse to the sons of Sathyam and Raju. This was the first time that honours were done posthumously. The void was felt, and for those who to this day immerse themselves in the background score of MSV’s music, the nostalgia was almost palpable. It was kindled further with two short docus on Sathyam and Raju.
Sathyam’s innumerable shehnai bits from various MSV songs, and Raju’s excellent whistling, the appealing falsetto in his yodeling, his lively ‘konnakol’ for M. R. Radha in a couple of films, his expertise on the veena, santoor and of course, the mandolin, so remarkably utilised by MSV were all strung together in an entrancing mélange. Another pioneering effort of msvtimes!
‘Guitar’ Bala (a prominent musician with MSV, K.V. Mahadevan, Ilaiyaraja and Shankar-Ganesh), his troupe and star singers (Jayashri, Ananthu, Kovai Murali and Usha Raj) on the light music circuit proved their mettle on stage. The camaraderie they shared with the musicians and their cheerfulness throughout deserve mention. Rarely does a live show go on without glitches. Here they were minimal.
Guest of Honour P. Suseela seemed to enjoy the music along with the performers and the crowd. It must have been a trip down memory lane for the illustrious singer.
The numbers presented were those not often heard on stage. And at the end of every song Sriram’s word of praise mentioning the names of the musicians who played for it and the segments they excelled in, are features rarely seen in stage shows.
‘Reminiscences,’ the show that the website presented as a tribute to MSV soon after his demise in July last, was encapsulated in a two-minute teaser for viewers. “The DVD will be out soon. It will be a treat for melody lovers ,” Vaidy, MSV activist and an enthusiastic hand of msvtimes assured.
