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Ganamela troupes are common today, but two decades ago, a dedicated group, despite odds, became a trendsetter. Today, that same group, Madhurima, is coming together again, to relive memories. K PRADEEP listens to their music.
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Photo: Mahesh Harilal.
REGROUPED: Madhurima members, Johnny, Venugopal, Girija, Gopi, Thomas Paul and Rajagopal.
LIKE A series of vials, charmingly shaped and coloured, these singers, distilled memory. Their voices, clear, rich in tenor and texture, belied their age. When they came on stage, one after the other, it was like removing the stopper of these vials. And the audience found themselves reliving, not just remembering, some magical moments of the past.
Madhurima orchestra, a virtual trendsetter in the State's music scene, was back on stage after more than two decades.
Launched way back in 1969 in Thripunithura, with a ramshackle first floor space as office and rehearsal venue, Madhurima, till it gradually broke up in the late 80s, was a rage. It was the dream of a group of enthusiastic young amateur singers and musicians who pooled in their talents and the little money they could part with. And for more than 20 years these youngsters ruled the roost. Many of them who cut their teeth here still grace many of the music troupes in the State today. Most of them have wandered into other professions; have not performed on stage for long; some of them are no more.
Happy revivial
"It was so nice to get together once again for rehearsals and then on the stage. Only a few of us were there for our `revival' programme, but I'm sure all those who were with Madhurima, this includes not just the artistes, but also our many well-wishers, would back us in our comeback bid. We cannot naturally be what we were nor do we intend to run around for programmes. But we would love to be active once again, sing and entertain with our brand of old songs," informs Thomas Paul, who used to specialise in Hindi songs, now a successful businessman.
When six of the group met the next evening they were charged, enthusiastic. Collectively, they appeared like a crowd of bubbling youngsters back after their first excursion. They had so much to say, so much experiences to share, all of them speaking at the same time.
"Madhurima was a trendsetter of sorts. All that the present day music groups do were what we started years back. We were the first to introduce separate singers for different languages, the style of singers standing before the microphone when performing and using mimicry and other events as fillers during intervals," says percussionist Venugopal, who was always a big inspiration and strength. Incidentally, they had a junior group who used to take the stage when the seniors took a break between the programmes. Most of them today have earned a place for themselves in the world of music.
Reward for hard work
More than setting trends, what makes Madhurima's effort so significant is the magnitude of work the artistes used to put in to learn the songs and perform them. Those were days when they did not have the convenience of the tape recorder, while the radio and gramophone were preciously rare. "We used to listen to the songs that were played at the Central Talkies, Thripunithura, before every show and jot down the lines. We got friendly with the man entrusted with this job in the theatre, thereby persuading him to play a song more than once. The only other source was Radio Ceylon that had a regular daily segment of film songs," recalls Johnny, the real star of the group with his brilliant rendering of T. M. Sounderajan's Tamil film songs.
These scribbled notes and the basic tune that they picked from the blaring loud speakers were then put through routine rehearsals. This regular training gave their singing and playing the varnish of perfection and assurance. "See, none of us ever looked to this as a profession, or a job. Of course, there were a few of us who depended a lot on the earnings from these programmes. But more than anything else we were into it simply because we loved music. There was tremendous teamwork, each one ready to help the other, whether it was suggesting new songs, getting the lyrics, tunes. Some of the songs that we took up were that the other groups never dared to choose. And yet we succeeded in carrying it off quite well," feels V. Rajagopal, who was much sought after for his Malayalam songs.
On stage the biggest challenge was to make themselves `heard.' With those primitive microphones and no sophisticated audio systems it required a lot of effort and skill to perform to the best of their abilities. "Perhaps the greatest advantage that the musicians of today have is the excellent audio systems, the sensitive microphones and instruments like the electronic keyboard and the synthesiser that opens the door to musical infinity. Despite all these handicaps we managed to infuse life to those golden songs," says tablist Gopi, who is still very active in this field.
Fortunately for this group they never had any problem finding female singers. For the first few programmes they had Padmaja, a promising young singer, then Girija came along. Endowed with a dulcet voice, Girija had by then become quite popular accompanying singers like P. Jayachandran in stage programmes. She then became a permanent feature of the group. Sundari and Jency were the other singers who graced the stage on a few occasions for the group.
A special bond
"There was always something special when in came to singing for Madhurima. It was like being in the company of good friends. There were so many occasions when we had to travel late in the night in newspaper vans seated on those bundles, wait for long hours at the bus stations and walking long distances to get back home. In spite of all that it was so satisfying, there was so much fun," recalls Girija, who is now an All India Radio artiste, was a member of the Old is Gold troupe and has been featured in numerous musical programmes on television.
Years have slipped by. Now settled in life, these artistes who made up Madhurima are bent on making a grand second coming. "Those days we were hard pressed for funds, nor did we have the backing, like some of the troupes, of any institution. Fortunately today we are in a position to revive the group and keep it going," feels Thomas Paul who will now double up as the coordinator of the group.
In today' music world that is machine-made, machine-played and sometimes even machine-heard, Madhurima is sure to provide spontaneity and a breath of freshness.
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