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Rhythmic golden oldies
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The city witnessed a memorable musical night with V. Dakshinamurthy himself performing on stage. K. PRADEEP reviews the event.
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Pics. by Mahesh Harilal
DESPITE HIS proven prowess as a singer, V. Dakshinamurthy rarely emerged in his favourite role of the singer. His job, he once said, was to make tunes. There were so many for whom singing was a livelihood and he did not want to deprive them of this source. But he firmly believed that there were so many songs that he composed which he could have rendered better than the singers of the day.
Pratap
When he stepped on stage, midway through the programme, aptly titled `Vrischikapoonilave,' organised by the Bank Employees Arts Movement, Ernakulam (BEAME), at the Kerala Fine arts Hall and rendered `Nagaradi... ' that amusing number from `Devalayam,' it was affirmation that his voice was still `young.' The veteran composer and his wife were honoured on the occasion.
"It was a very good effort by the young singers," said Swami who left halfway through the programmes to a standing ovation by the sizeable, appreciative audience. The fourth generation singers like Viswanathan, Jyotsna, Pratap, Rajalakshmi, Elizabeth Raju, Sainoj and Nishad sang their hearts out, supported, albeit inconsistently, by Jerson Antony's orchestra.
Jyotsna
The success of such music events depends heavily on the selection of songs. To pick 27 to 30 from the huge treasure trove of Swami's memorable songs was never easy. "We first selected around 75 songs, then filtered it to 60. Keeping in mind the time and stage considerations we decided on 27, which had to have fair representation for male, female voices and duets. Then we found that most of them were those sung by Jesudas and so had to make a final filtration, incorporating songs by Brahmanandan, L.R.Ishwari and others. We know that we have certainly missed out on a lot of Swami's great songs," confessed A. K. Raghunath, president of BEAME. "We now have plans to organise a programme in honour of K. Raghavan," he added.
Nishad
Swami is the perhaps the only music director who took a `voluntary retirement' from films. It would have been appropriate to include one song from his last film `Edanazhiyil Oru Kaalocha.' Selections may be subjective but one felt that there should have been a few more of those semi-classical songs, which really made Swami so special.
There is nothing like a vibrant, confident start. Viswanathan, however, failed to provide that. He, however, did make amends with `Kaka thampurati... ' (Enapravukkal) and in the duets that followed. It was left to Jyotsna and Pratap to infuse some life to the event. The consistent, confident Rajalakshmi shrugged off a slippery start to virtually dominate the event. Elizabeth Raju and Nishad improved with every song, while Sainoj was not his usual self.
Rajalakshmi
The orchestra also had a rather mixed day. There were moments when the tabla went ahead of the singers, not really keeping to the rhythm; the sitar was not played when it should have, forcing Jerson to fill it up with the guitar; the flute played an extra bit while the effects in songs like `Vaikathashtami nalil... ' were never heard beyond the stage. But perhaps the most glaring miss was when the built in sounds of the chenda in the electronic total percussion kit seemed to have got locked, killing the whole mood of the song `Utharaswayamvaram... .' (Danger Biscuit).
The show was truly a reaffirmation of Swami's style that became a rage: Melodies clothed in the garb of classical ragas, an innovative mix that struck a chord in the heart of generations. Kudos to the effort.
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