Mayakkum Malai Pozhudhu 2010

Mayakkum Malai Pozhudhu- An evening of lilting melodies 2010 was held at Kamarajar Arangam this july and it felt so great to perform golden melodies from past and present. I began the show with my favorite melody katrinile varum geetham from Meera. Myself and singer/composet Unnimenon sir were the star singers for this evening. Mouna raagam provided awesome back-ups for this show done by Universal events. I felt on top of the world performing south indian melody queen P Susheela amma's Malai Pozhudin Mayakkathile from Bhagyalakshmi movie as the theme song for the evening. It came out so well. I sang duets with unnimenon sir like Pudhu vellai mazhai, Paarta Mudhal naale and my own hits like Kanaa Kaanum kalangal, Enna indha matramo etc.,

The chief guest fro the evening was legendary playback singer Malaysia Vasudevan sir, before whom i performed Aagaya gangai from Dharmayudham, one of his greatest hits in Maestro ilayaraja's music. It was one evening to remember with all proceeds benefitting a home for orphaned special children.

Mere tho Giridhar Gopal

Hey folks! Its been quite a while since i have blogged. I was pretty shaken by the death of one of the greatest singers of our times- Swarnalatha, Lady with a golden voice. Well , anyway this post is about my recent concert for Janmashtami at ISKCON Hare Krishna temple, Thiruvanmiyur on September 2nd. I am a devotee of lord Krishna and share a special bond with the lord. the connect that i feel when i render Bhajans on lord Krishna is not quite explainable in words. So when i was approached by ISKCON to do a 2 hour concert of Bhakthi Sangeeth on Lord Krishna, i jumped at it.
This was organised on Janmashtami, Krishna's birthday. So it gave me more joy and happiness to be blessed enough to perform for the lord's pleasure on this auspicious occassion. The Hare Krishna temple at first seaward road is located by the seashore. It is a very beautiful place surrounded by palm trees, pools, green lush lawns and the lord's temple to crown all this beauty.

a pretty pandhal was put up and on the stage the decorated idols of Krishna Balarama were placed amidst much paraphernelia. krishna Balarama looked really beautiful dressed in specially designed Pink and blue outfits that made them look really smart and attractive!!

I was accompanied by sunder on the tabla, Shri. Subbu on the keys and shri. Muthukumar on the flute. I planned this concert as an evening of Bhakthi sangeeth featuring an assortment of Krishna Bhajans by various composers who have glorified krishna Bhakthi through decaded like Meera Bhai, Purandaradasa,annamacharya and the Alwars , the noted , among many great composers.

I began the evening with the evergreen katrinile varum geetham from Meera, immortalised by Bharat Ratna Smt. MS Subbulakshmi. I felt this would be a fitting beginning to the concert. This piece in Sindhubhairavi Rag was the first song that i performed on Tv show sapthaswarangal way back in 1997 when i was a kid. This earned me world fame even as a child. i guess the power of the song is such.I have always loved performing this song .

Next came Hey hare dayala, a heart wrenching Bhajan in Rag Patdeep from Meera movie. The "jaya meera prabhu meera" chanting at the end never fails to take devotees to another world of transcendental bliss across the realm of Bhakthi.

I performed songs like Nanda Nandana the famous meera Bhajan, Mharo Pranam- made famous by Hindustani stalwart Kishori amonkar, Mera Shaam thu in pantuvarali, Brundavanathil, Thane Kayi Kayi, Baro Krishnayya, Dolayam and Bhavayami Gopala balam after this.

I also included " Ayarpadi maligayil" , the cute lullaby song for Baby Krishna tuned by MSV and written by Kavignar Kannadasa who was a devotee himself. this garnered much applause and i totally enjoyed every moment of this song.

This live concert will soon be released as a live concert CD. so watch out and grab your copy!! i hope to do many such bhakthi sangeeth concerts in future. Bhakthi refines, enriches and revitalises the soul.

Here is a picture from Mere to Giridhar Gopal

An ode to Swarnalatha from her fan

The death of singer Swarnalatha - The lady with the most resonant, most appealing and most sensuous voice i have ever heard is indeed shocking to the entire music industry and millions of her fans including me. I would like to share my thoughts and outpour of my heart that never failed to sway to her metallic voice, a voice that was capable of penetrating deep into the soul and shake a thousand emotions out of it.
True to her name, her voice was golden, eternal. There are some voices that are created by god that are meant to sing, to spread joy to the people.Swarnalatha's voice was probably tailor made to suit this purpose. As a young singer, the first song that i sang on Tv shows and alway won prizes was Porale Ponnuthaayi, her National award winning song. Though i was only 10 when i first sang this song, i could understand the underlying intensity of the emotions conveyed through this song through the medium of her voice and it was the first voice that greatly inspired me from within. I have met her on one occassion at a studio. she had just finished her recording and i was about to begin mine. when she stepped out of the voice console, I fell at her feet. She blessed me and kindly asked me about my work. She wore a beautiful blue salwar and wore stunning gold ornaments. Her singing reflected her persona. So full of kindness, innocence yet a lot of intense emotions stashed deep within. It is hard to believe she died of lung infection as the kind of breath control she had, only a pair of bellows instead of lungs could produce! Be it the arabic genius humming in Humma or the heart wrenching Porale Ponnuthaayi or the playful akkada or the recent Evano Oruvan or vintage Ilayaraja hit like Malayil yaaro and the longing Aalana sedhi solli in Deva's music, She has been the other name for versatality.

The other day i was driving and listening to Kuchi Kuchi Rakkama from Bombay. Her voice was crytal- like, beaming away to glory through Rahman's composition. Though she was very reserved, she was the hot favorite of top composers of our times. She held her own throne, musical kingdom in the hearts of her fans.Her voice will always remain one of its kind, Her glory will never die. May her soul rest in peace. We love you Swarnalatha ji, forever.

Ponds alaapana award 2009, My first Telugu award

SOme more good news for all my fans and friends:-)) Just bagged my first ever Best singer award in Telugu for the chartbuster Yele yele from Ganesh Just Ganesh in Mickey J Meyer's music. This was Ponds Alapana awards 2009 held at Tirupati. I received this award from Veteran music composer Koti Garu. the highlight was that, P Susheela amma was the chief guest. She lauded me for my perfect telugu diction. felt top of the world. I performed Yele for the first time for a packed telugu audience. Could feel my heart popping out and my adrenalin levels on an all time high when i began the first Yele humming and the crowd screaming. This was indeed MY moment!! Sang before Vidhyasagar ji, Ramjogiah Sastry garu(Lyricist of Yele), MM Srilekha(composer) and other distinguished personalities of Tollywood..

Next morning had a lovely darshan of my lord Venkateshwara Balaji in Tirupati. Felt at Vaikuntaa the minute he gave me Darshan.. What an image !

Raj Tv Kodai Kondattam. Erode 2010

Hey lovely people!

Not been blogging for sometime..My bad..:(
Anyways, thought ill bounce back with some lively news..ya literally, im talking about my latest live show Raj Tv Kodai Kondattam held at Erode on May 23rd at Sengundar grounds. I sang the show with Harish Raghavendra. raj Tv Kodai Kondattam happens every year. It is a series of light music shows held at different cities across Tamilnadu. In short, it is a summer musical feast. Last year i sang at coimbatore. This year, It was Erode.
Just before the show, I went to Sennimalai Murugan temple, about an hour's drive from Erode. It is a very divine place and the weather was a little cloudy, just right to go on the Sennimalai mountain top. I could see why Lord Muruga always like mountains. They are so serene, peaceful and away from the noise and buzz of the city. I was glad my mom came along. There were not many people so i had a very exclusive darshan of muruga and his lovely wives, valli and Deivanai amman. I was blessed enough to render a Thiruppugazh in praise of Thamizh Kadavul Murugar.

The show was an extension of Muruga's blessings. It was really successful. As it was my Idol janaki amma's birthaday the previous day, I sang Kannan Vandhu Paadugindran as a gift to her. I also sang some high energy numbers like Hey atha, Daddy Mummy and some serene ones like Idhu Varai, Kanaa Kaanum etc.,

so here are some pics.. This show was aired in Raj Tv in June first week..

Goripalayam, Kalavaani- My recent tamil outings!

Okay, here are two latest songs of mine from Goripalayam and Kalavaani. Now, into the details. Goripalayam is director Rasu Maduravan's outing after the very successful Mayandi Kudumbathar from which my song Kalavaaniye is a super hit. Am really happy to be associated with this happening team again. Enna indha matramo, my duet with Karthik in Sabesh- Murali's music is a very mesmerising romantic song written by none other than Na. Muthukumar. An urugudhe-ish song but unique and beautiful in its own way.

The next one is Damma Dumma, the song that is presently rocking caller tunes from the SS Kumaran musical Kalavaani. Produced by Nazir, this movie is set in a rural backdrop and my song is a ch-chweet kinda song with the catchy phrase Damma dumma rendered by Kids!

Check these out for now and i will be back soon with more interesting numbers and events!!!

Pen Singam

Pen singam- Our chief minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi's 75th movie. I am really happy to have sung a lovely song in this prestigious project for thenisai thendral Deva ji. It happened all of a sudden when Kaviperarasu Vairamuthu ji and Deva sir wanted me to sing this lilting and fast paced duet with Hariharan ji. The recording went off really well with Deva sir's conductor Sundarrajan uncle guidiong me so well through the song. I heard that Kalaignar ayya heard the song and appreciated and enquired about me. What more can i ask for? The audio was launched recently by ulaganayagan Kamal hasan and received by Kalaignar. The golden hands that has written n number of scripts and songs for doyens like Sivaji sir, MGR and other other great singers receiving a cd with my song was a moment that i will cherish forever.

Nee sonnal thei pirai valarum, a very well-penned poetic love song by Vairamuthu is indeed a gift from above for me this year. Here is the song for all my beloved fans and well-wishers!!Happy listening:-)