Unsung master
K. PRADEEP
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G.S. Mani, who has moulded his own `bani', aims at popularising Carnatic music.
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Photo: Shaju John
DIFFERENT BEAT G.S.Mani believes that art cannot be bland.
G.S. Mani is one of the unsung masters of Carnatic music. This might be partly because his singing is different in an indefinable way or because of his different views on life and music. "My mother was my first guru. Then I was trained by some eminent teachers like Jalatharangam vidwan Babu Iyengar, nagaswaram vidwan Aiayyampetta Venu and later I became a disciple of Mazhavarayenendra Subbaram Aiyer. I was a regular winner in competitions and even performed a couple of concerts.
"In those days, I longed to do my college education in Madras but my family was against this idea," he recalls.
Eventually, bowing to the pressures of his family, Mani took up a job in Delhi. Mani made full use of those Delhi days. He never missed a chance to listen to the great masters of Hindustani music and soon became closely associated with some of them. This, in due course, influenced Mani's singing style.
"A musician must be exposed to varied genres of music. My association with greats like Omkarnath Thakur, Sidheswari Devi, Begum Akhtar, a lot of qawwali singers and participating in numerous bhajan programmes added a new dimension to my music." His decision to turn into a `full-time musician' was met with disapproval but Mani stood firm.
"My first concert was at Sringeri Mutt in Chennai with M. S. Gopalakrishnan and Umayalpuram Sivaraman providing the accompaniment. The hall was packed possibly because most of them wanted to see who this new vocalist was. The concert and my way of singing were literally torn to pieces by a reputed music critic. There were many like him who did not approve of my style, one that was far removed from the traditional `Carnatic bani.' "But I was determined to retain that style for I firmly believe that art cannot be bland. Singing or borrowing phrases from the great masters in the field that time would not have helped at all. All that I did was approach ragas and kritis in a way that the masters had done."
Mani and his new style, manodharma-based and onstage innovations, were soon recognised. Mani then joined music director M. S. Viswanathan as his associate, took up teaching assignments abroad, conducted lecture-demonstrations, modelled for some top brands and did cameo roles in films. "I was with MSV for around 10 years, when he was at his peak. He had happened to listen to one of my concerts on radio and invited me to join him. I enjoyed that stint. I made a lot of close friends like Chandra Babu, Kannadasan and P. B. Srinivas. I quit due to personal reasons."
Mani then embarked on popularising Carnatic music through the medium of film songs. "I'm a strong believer in Tamil Isai which has references in the Silappathikaram. Often, while travelling, I have met people who could sing a film song like Marainthirunthu pakkum... in Shanmukhapriya flawlessly without knowing the nuances of the raga or swaras. This made me think of a programme that could help people understand and appreciate Carnatic music."
His programme called `Karnataka Isaiyum Cinemavum' was first held in Tiruppur some 35 years ago. After this for almost every concert of his Mani used to get requests to sing some of those film songs. It was through friends and their requests that Mani got into modelling and acting. "Kamal Hassan is a good friend and when he asked me to play the role of a psychiatrist in Aalavandan I could not refuse." Mani has composed varnams, kritis and tillanas in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit.
He has sung one Tyagaraja kriti for Johnson in the Malayalam film Kudumbasametham. Now, Mani accepts concerts selectively. "The rest of my life I would like to dedicate myself to the propagation of classical music among people who are denied of this gift."
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