Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
A voice for cancer cure
Releasing the musical comucopia.
MUSIC GALLERY was extraordinarily busy on Sunday morning. Music lovers continued to file in every few minutes from 10 a.m. onwards, until there was an appreciative knot of music fans, milling around the special counter at the back of the shop.
Carnatic musician and playback singer P. Unnikrishnan's voice floated serenely out of the main speakers... mellifluous songs... in praise of benevolent Lord Muruga, the refuge of those who seek deliverance from their troubles.
It was an auspicious occasion... the release of "Vasantha Guhane''... an album of sweet songs for the God who symbolizes beauty, and who waits to shower blessings upon those who come to him with appeals and entreaties.
Unni was busy signing autographs for his fans, on the inlay cards of the cassettes, and handing them over with a gentle smile and a handshake. Using a red felt pen, he wrote our name, added "With best wishes'', and signed with a flourish.
On the cassette card was a message from Vasantha Memorial Trust, for whom Unni had brought out the album. Here's what it said: "By patronizing this cassette, you have made a contribution to the cause. Somewhere in this country, a cancer victim will benefit from it, and will wish his unknown sponsor well. Thank you!''
A few minutes before this, Unni had released the album and handed over the first cassette to Dr. Ramanathan, one of the three trustees.
"It was the idea of Dr. Ramanathan,'' Unni said. "Two years ago I visited the cancer hospital and gave a free concert here, in Coimbatore. There was a desire to collect funds for cancer patients, and I finally did it last year.''
``Recording was over in two months... in between there was the music season. In the album there is a special song Vasantha Kaalam in Hamsanandi... by Appadurai. It's Dr. Ramanathan's idea, and it's for seeking blessings for cancer patients.''
He had completed the cassette in December, and it had been released in Mumbai on January 19. "There was good response from the people during the launch in Mumbai... there were about 2500 people... it was a very big auditorium. Of course, the Trust had done a lot of work, and people had supported it.''
Busy signing autographs.
There was more to say: "I was very happy to be involved. It's very satisfying as a professional when you can make people smile. That's the ultimate satisfaction.''
Incidentally, in 1999, the Trust had honoured Unni with the title of "Udhavum Oli'', in appreciation of his support for social causes, and also in his capacity as an advisor and patron of the Trust.
Unni started learning Carnatic music from Sri V. L. Seshadri when he was 12. Later, it was with vidwans like Sangitha Kalanithi Dr. S. Ramanathan, and Calcutta Sri K. S. Krishnamurthy. He is now under the guidance of Sri P. S. Narayanaswamy and Smt. Savithri Sathyamurthy.
Born and brought up in Tamil Nadu, he had the advantage of knowing Tamil well. Music director A. R. Rahman had introduced him to films through Director-Cinematographer Rajiv Menon. "We were just sitting and chatting, and I was saying that I would like to see Rahman recording music, because I had never been in a studio.''
Of course, as they say, the rest is history. Unni lent his voice to K. T. Kunjumon's popular Tamil film, Shankar's "Kaadalan''. He rendered Vairamuthu's lyrics to A. R. Rahman's haunting and melodious tune. It was an astounding smash-hit that brought him the "Best Playback Singer Award'' for his very first film song.
That was a great start, and he's now completed something like 600 songs for films alone: In Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
Here's the list of songs on the new cassette: Swaminatha Paripalaya, Parvathi Kumaran, Kathirkama Kandan, Nambinen Aiya, Kaa Vaa Vaa, Vasantha Kalam, Thillana and Thirupugazh.
Among the awards and titles that Unni has received over the years are the "Isai Peroli'' by Karthik Fine Arts, and "Kalaimamani'' by the Tamil Nadu Government. He's an `A' Grade artist of All India Radio (AIR).
That's not all. He's a cricket enthusiast, a commerce graduate from the Madras University at Chennai, and a diploma holder in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations.
Fortunately for the music world, he decided to base his career on his impressive and appealing voice. His "first inspiration'' is K. J. Jesudass, but he says he's learnt a lot from a number of other singers as well: S. P. Balasubramaniam, P. B. Srinivas, A. M. Raja, Hariharan... the list goes on.
``Each one has a different style and quality. Young singers must listen to all types of music, only then will they widen their knowledge. They should be able to appreciate everything... including rap''.
Unni has a word of advice for aspiring singers: "There's a lot of competition, so there's need to work hard. Try to be different and develop your own style with originality... never imitate anyone. It helps to have a classical background. Start from a young age.''
By A.A. Michael Raj
Photos: S. Siva Saravanan
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
|
