The inner music
RANJANI GOVIND
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The Malladi Brothers – Sriram Prasad and Ravi Kumar – are the third generation of a family of austere musicians. Their commitment to the Carnatic music tradition is much deeper than being just good performers
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.
DEVOTED Malladi Brothers: Music is above cutcheri-level for us, performing is only a part of it
I met the Malladi Brothers, the juniors –
Sriram Prasad and Ravi Kumar – and elated that I was, mentioned it to my friends. It was enough to start a long discussion on the third generation family of gifted musicians from interior Andhra Pradesh. A Carnatic and Harikatha exponent of the West Godavari district, Malladi Sriramamurthi trained his sons Surya Babu and Narayana Sharma (senior brothers). They are busy performing artistes even now, and what the junior brothers have gained is a rich legacy from each one.
Sriram and Ravi are forever evolving a cutcheri pattern that fits into their family beliefs of a traditional stage presentation.
Rare ragas
“We love to handle rare scales in our raga-thana-pallavi (RTP) apart from the usual ghana ragas like Bhairavi, Kalyani, Todi or Poorvikalyani,” says Sriram, as we discussed the instant Dwijavanti pallavi on Lord Nataraja “Aananda Nataprakasham, Chit Sabhesham, Ashrayami” that he weaved on stage. It was at their recent concert at Payyanoor in Kerala, which continues to get excited responses from listeners. The brothers want to tread a different path in trying new ragas but do not want to cross the golden line of the melakarta repertoire as they ‘offer a complete range for expansion.’ Ask them about the rare melakartas that they have tried for RTP and they list out the unusual Kokilapriya, Gamanashrama, Kantamani, Raghupriya… all of which the Trinity have used in their works. “Ragaanubhava comes after a deep study of the raga-lakshanas and a deeper involvement with the scale. We were trained by my father to recognise the contours of the ragas and the swara-flow for bringing out the essence,” says Sriram. “This also helped us in selecting and designing a cutcheri format with new aural dimensions.” They are proud that they followed this belief meticulously even during their marathon 25-concert music series in the U.S without repeating a single raga!
Hindustani link
Sriram and Ravi also offer some electrifying sessions in swara renditions where they infuse typical Hindustani phrases into the Carnatic mainstream. “My father was also given special tuitions by Volety Venkateshwara Rao in Hindustani and the strength of that parampara is seen in our renditions,” reiterates Ravi Kumar. The brothers insist that both the genres have a sea of inherent strengths that could be made use of by musicians all over. “If the Hindustani sruti timbre is followed by Carnatic musicians, and the simple laya patterns and initial learning lessons of the Carnatic sprinkled in a way suitable to the Hindustani shaili, both the Indian schools will benefit from each other. But don’t ignore the manual tambura, ” they insist.
They were initiated into music as toddlers and the lessons still go on from the seniors at home. All through, even during years of strict academics, music continued to be a strong undercurrent. “Music is above cutcheri-level for us, performing is only a part of it,” observes Sriram.
In the early 1990s, Sriram and Ravi were put under Nedanuri Krishnamurthi for advanced lessons and after that they came under Sripada Pinakapani, a medical doctor with a doctorate in music at Kurnool. “Our Sripada guru would insist on following the notations, as he was an expert who could reproduce musical data for an entire kriti laden with innumerable sangatis as he listened to a concert. Gamakas, anuswarams and the raga bhava would be traced impeccably and recorded immediately in his books. His knowledge of laya was no less, he would give examples of the intricate patterns of ‘muktayi’ played by percussionist as Palghat Mani Iyer!” recalls Sriram. Sangeetha Sourabham, a 4-volume book with 1200 compositions by Sripada guru with elaborate notations has been handed over to the TTD for publication. His Manodharma Sangeetha has notations for 60 ragas for following the jeeva-swara paths for expansion.”
Be it the seniors in the family or his gurus, the classes were knowledge gathering sessions, says Ravi, as Guru Nedanuri also insisted on timing their items and trained them on the behaviour aspects with pakkavadhya artistes.
Awards, titles, honours and albums have come their way. It sure is motivation, but for someone as committed as Sriram and Ravi, both Post-graduates of Music, there is an inner energy that is always sparkling. As they continue on their musical voyage, they plan to start “Samagana Lahari” in Vijaywada, a school to propagate the treasure that the trinity have left behind.
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