Kerala - Kozhikode   

An evening of melodies

P.K. Ajith Kumar

MELODIES ETERNAL: Devi Menon singing at a programme organised in connection with State-sponsored Onam celebrations in the city on Tuesday.

KOZHIKODE: We do not normally associate "Pranasakhi njan verumoru paamaranam pattukaran... " with a female voice, having grown up listening to K.J. Jesudas singing that timeless composition of M.S. Baburaj.

So for the audience at the Tagore Centenary Hall in Kozhikode on Monday night, it was a new experience when Devi Menon rendered that melody from the film `Pareeksha' in her programme `Ghazals and Melodies,' with which the Onam Celebrations, being organised by the Department of Tourism and the District Tourism Promotion Council, got under way. She sang three other compositions of Baburaj - "Thane thirinjum marinjum... " (`Ambalapravu'), "Thaliritta kinakkal than... " (`Moodupadam') and "Innale mayangumbol... " (`Anveshichu Kandethiyilla').

Her selection of songs to pay a tribute to the maestro in his hometown could not have been a lot better than that, especially "Thane thirinjum... ," one of his lesser anthologised songs but a beautiful Janaki number nevertheless. Devi sang it rather well too.

She sang three other film numbers, composed by Madan Mohan, one of India's most gifted music directors. "Naino mein badra chaye... " (`Mere Saya'), "Ruke ruke se kadam... " (`Mausam') and "Teri aankhon ke siva... " (`Chirag') were the songs she picked and again you could not have argued with her choice. But, of course, Madan Mohan, like our own G. Devarajan, was incapable of composing a poor tune.

She also rendered ghazals of Jagjit Singh ("Kiya hai pyar jise... "), Ghulam Ali ("Kabhi aah lab pe... ") and Hariharan and Asha Bhosle ("Pehle bhi jeete... ").

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