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Tribute to a maestro

The grand finale of `Manikyaveena' celebrated the lyrical verses of O.N.V. Kurup.

VISUAL TREAT O.N.V's `Nilavinte geetham' was adapted for an audio-visual play by Pramod Payyannur

The valedictory function of a three-day programme called `Manikyaveena' that was organised to honour O.N.V. Kurup saw a variety of audio-visual creations that celebrated the poet's creations in verse. Later, a music progamme saw a galaxy of singers, including K.J. Jesudas and Vani Jairam, coming together to render the film songs written by O.N.V. Kurup.

O.N.V.'s songs

The evening began with students of Sangita Bharati, led by K. Omanakutty, presenting in different ragas, a string of songs written by O.N.V. for a `Sangitasilpam Nandasudhathavajananam,' which was composed by Cherthala Gopalan Nair.

The songs included `Rohini nakshatrame' (Hamsanadam), `Gopavadane gokulame' (Keeravani), `Leela lalasa' (Ragamalika), `Paarin hrudayame' (Syama). The two khayals sung by Ramesh Narayan were a bada khayal `Syama manohari, varshaa sundari' in vilambit taal and a chota khayal `Aadi mukilin' in drut taal. O.N.V. is probably the first poet to write a khayal in a language other than Hindi, Sanskrit or Brij bhasha. Both the khayals were rendered in the Carnatic raga Amrithavarshini with a Hindustani touch.

Inspired by Beethovan's `Moonlight Sonata,' O.N.V's `Nilavinte geetham' was adapted for an audio-visual play by Pramod Payyannur. Madhupal and Aparna acted. The play shows how a visually impaired girl is able to visualise the moonlight when a person plays her the `Moonlight Sonata.' Images of the moonlight on screen together with O.N.V.'s poem, and Madhupal and Aparna emoting, added charm to the show.

`Ormakale kaivala chaarthi,' a short film on the life and achievements of O.N.V. was also screened. Film songs penned by O.N.V. were interwoven into the film to match the various stages of his life. Swaralaya's mudra gaanam `Swaram swaralayam,' written by O.N.V. and tuned by Devarajan, was performed on stage by students of Saraswathi Vidyalaya , Thiruvananthapuram.

The ganamela of O.N.V. songs marked the grand finale of the day. Jesudas started the ganamela with `Polthinkal kala.' He followed it by singing snippets of several popular songs like `Srishti thaen munthiri chaarinai,' `Oru vattom koodi,' `Vaathil pazhuthilude,' `Syama sundara pushpame,' and `Nee mayum nilavo.'

Then came `Manikyaveenayumai' which he sang in full in his evergreen voice enchanting the listeners. This was followed by noted singers rendering other songs composed by O.N.V.

The programme was organised by Swaralaya.

G. JAYAKUMAR

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