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In honour of Kochi's own Jesudas

`Dasettanu Snehapoorvam', a musical night in honour of K. J. Jesudas was held in the city. Apart from a musical for the public, it was an occasion where singers converged amid joyous camaraderie

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Singers from different generations came together for `Dasettanu Snehapoorvam.' Antara Chaudhary and K. J. Jesudas. PHOTO: VIPINCHANDRAN

The breeze, the vastness of the space that is Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, and the convergence of roughly 40,000 people, was the right note to begin `Dasettenu Snehapoorvam,' an evening of music in K. J. Jesudas' honour, on Wednesday last. Only the air of expectancy lasted too long (the function began a good one and a quarter hours late). However, the audience, who went home last, went on a happy, but sleepy note, for the show got over only by 11.30 pm. It was sweet nostalgia for the baby boomers, melody mela for Gen Now and for Gen Next, a joyous peep into a music world of yesteryear. The organisers of the event were Kerala Tourism, District Administration and Swaralaya.

A crowd of singers, established and upcoming, enthralled the audience, though the violin medley by Attukal Subramaniam, the opening item, seemed to go on and on till the protests turned mildly vocal. For, people expected vocal entertainment, not instrumental. The singers, two score and more, did their part pretty well. Jesudas, clearly in his element, seemed bowled over by the occasion.

"In a world that reverberates with gunshots and explosions you won't find the birds. They are sure to fly off, to return only when there is calm. We singers are like these birds. We survive only when there is peace, where Nature is bountiful, when there are flowers around," he said. This was one among his many small speeches he made about communal harmony, environment and good habits, in between the songs. This was very often greeted by strong disapproval from the crowd, the usually reticent Jesudas opened out in an atmosphere charged with the warmth of love.

A 40-piece orchestra led by music director M. Jayachandran, a horde of singers, young and old, excellent acoustics, strong visual backup made up for all the other drawbacks, like the lack of proper coordination, or planning.

There was no proper `theme.' While some singers thought it to be a celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Malayalam film music some others were given to understand that it was a tribute to Jesudas. So we had Biju Narayanan, Unni Menon and K. G. Markose singing some of Jesudas' songs, while others like K. P. Udayabhanu, G. Venugopal and most of the young brigade, like Manjari, Rimi Tomi, presenting their own songs. It would have been so much livelier if the singers came up with Jesudas songs, which would have been a perfect tribute to the great singer. The show turned out into just another mega-ganamela, not something special.

Ex-Minister P J Joseph entertained the audience, singing with Manjari, `Oru chiri kandal, ... athu mathi' with Vijay Jesudas conducting him.

Jesudas thanked all his gurus, music directors, lyricists; he even mentioned the contribution of Prem Nazir for his success. But somewhere down in this crowded schedule, M. S. Baburaj was forgotten. Not one song of this music director was presented, except perhaps in Balasubramaniam's violin medley.

Jyotsna and K. P. Udayabhanu.

The voice of Jesudas must have aged but the magic was still there. `Swararaga roopini... ' (Kavyamela), `Aayiram padasarangal... ' (Nadhi), `Oru nimisham tharu... ' (Sindooram), `Innale ente nenjille... ' (Balettan) and snatches from his Hindi hits were vintage Jesudas. The others who set the stage on fire by their stunning performances were Unni Menon, Biju Narayanan, Thoppil Anto and Chitra Iyer.

If there was one moment that would remain frozen in memory it was Antara Chaudhary's fluent, full-throated singing. The daughter of Salil Chaudhary chose to sing one of her father's popular numbers `Ee malarkanyakal... ' (Madanolsavam) and when she did it the audience swayed and clapped, unmindful of her wrong pronunciation.

The clippings that were shown on the screens, of Jesudas' school chums talking about him and commoners like a mahouts and a police constable singing lines of his songs were touching.

One big disappointment for Jesudas and the audience was that Dakshinamoorthy, who was expected never turned up. At another venue in the city, the play `Waiting for Godot' was staged recently. Likewise, till the end, the wait continued at the stadium. "It was because of a communication gap, he could not get away from Chennai," said R. Manu, secretary of the Kochi chapter of Swaralaya.

Big names like P Jayachandran, P Susheela, S. Janaki, Chitra, Sujatha could not come. Some of them were on the big screen, with their good wishes. The entry was through passes and gallery free. Sponsorships saw to the expenses. "Whatever amount is left will be ploughed back into any activities that promote cultural promotion," said A. P. M. Mohammed Hanish, Ernakulam District Collector.

That is certainly a laudable initiative, in the interests of both for artistes and the public.

PREMA MANMADHAN
K.PRADEEP

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