Hearing is believing
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In the series on accompanying artistes, ANJANA RAJAN speaks to veteran vocalist Sadanam Rajagopalan.
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Sadanam Rajagopalan... Voice of freedom. Photo: Sandeep Saxena.
MUCH CAN be forgiven Rajagopalan. So goes the prevailing notion in classical dance circles of the Capital. He might hem and haw at the distances he needs to travel to rehearsals. He might baulk at lifting a harmonium. He might have a dancer in jitters till he takes his place among the accompanists on stage. He might even give the impression he will forget his cues, memorising his script till the last minute, and making his co-artistes wonder if they have forgotten something too. But when Sadanam Rajagopalan starts to sing, melody takes over in one smooth, soothing sweep, sending all worries to oblivion.
And perhaps that is the secret of his popularity as an accompanist over three decades. Hailing from Kannur in Kerala, Rajagopalan's interest in music started when he was in school, singing light songs. Later he completed a six-year course in Sopana Sangeetam, or the music of Kathakali, from Sadanam, one of the famous Kathakali schools in Kerala. "My gurus there were Malambi Subramania Namboodiri and the late Thiroor Nambeesan," he relates.
He came to Delhi in 1974 and has been here ever since. "It was in response to an advertisement to work for the International Centre for Kathakali here. For several years I was the sole vocalist there, although usually there are two singers in a Kathakali orchestra," he says. "The others came later. I worked for 22 years at the Centre. I taught music too and had a lot of students, including a number of girls. I conducted arangetrams (debut solo recitals) for many of them."
Freelancing since 1995, Rajagopalan has, besides singing for Kathakali, provided vocal accompaniment for Bharatanatyam, Mohinattam and Kuchipudi performances. "I have sung for most of the dancers in Delhi," he recalls. "Yamini Krishnamurti, Sonal Mansingh, Raja and Radha Reddy, Leela Samson, Jayarama Rao, and for long years with Bharati Shivaji."
Freedom to improvise
As compared to the rigours of singing set pieces where it is important to remember the number of times a dancer wants a particular line sung, Rajagopalan loves to be allowed to sing freely, improvising in raga alap and not bothering to count the repetitions.
He has passed on his talent to his children too. His elder son, Srikumar, who was a finalist in the popular talent hunt on Zee TV, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, is already trying his luck in Mumbai, while the younger one, Srikanth, is a prize winner of the Bharat Vikas Parishad. Both are disciples of the veteran vocalist Radha Krishna.
Yet Rajagopalan, true to style, despite his own success and the positive steps shown by his children, hesitates to recommend music as a career option. "People like my voice, so I have always had work," is all he manages to say.
Indeed, no one can refute it. Because hearing is believing.
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