It is his pleasant countenance that first draws attention but once you settle down, his play on the mridangam keeps you absorbed.
Vijay grew up in Mumbai, the son of Geetha, a vainika, and N. Balasubramanian, a Chartered Accountant and bhajan singer. Vijay’s father, an ardent admirer of T.V. Gopalakrishnan (TVG), had spent a few years in Chennai learning mridangam from the veteran. His enthusiasm was inherited by his two children — daughter Vidya Harikrishna, a competent vocalist and student of Bombay Balamani, and Vijay.
As a young child, Vijay would gravitate to the thavil player at weddings. Noticing the interest, Vijay’s father enrolled him and his cousin, Viveick Rajagopalan, with T.S. Nandakumar, a student of Kaithavana Madhavadas, for mridangam lessons. Barely two years later, the boys started playing in august auspices, including Shanmukhananda Sabha, for their guru’s tala vadya group. “My father ensured that I practised every day. And he insisted that I didn’t hurt my hands, whatever it was that I did, even when I played games,” recalls Vijay.
Vijay had his arangetram at the age of 12 at Karnataka Sangha in Mumbai, where he and his cousin played for violin maestro T.N. Krishnan. TVG was kept continually appraised of Vijay’s progress and he attended the arangetram where Vijay received his instrument from the thespian’s hands. An impressed Krishnan called Vijay for a SPIC MACAY concert in Indore. Vijay’s mridangam career progressed with his playing for several concerts in Mumbai and topping in music competitions . He got the Junior and Senior CCRT scholarships and also the First Prize in the All India Radio Music Competition (for mridangam) in 1997.
Since those formative years, Vijay has matured as an artiste. He moved to Chennai for further training under TVG. It has been a huge learning curve for Vijay, who has realised that accompaniment is an art by itself. “In vocal performances, the quality of the voice on a given day is the criterion. The timbre, the style and pace of singing, etc., matter. Based on these, the accompanist decides his approach,” explains VIjay.
Instrument is a different kettle of fish. “Since the talam is not visible, nadai should be deployed. For instance, the veena is a soft toned and a highly aesthetic instrument and therefore, requires unobtrusive support. I could be more liberal with meettu, chaapu and gumki, the dhum sparingly used. I try to pause leaving the rasika asking for more,” says Vijay, who thanks TVG Sir for pointing out these nuances to him. He believes that a mridangam artiste can showcase his talent within 15-20 minutes. All these has stood Vijay in good stead in his musical journey.
Apart from sharing the stage with eminent artistes, Vijay has toured the U.K. and Malaysia and was selected, along with his sister, by Pt. Jasraj to perform in New York and Washington. He is a Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Asthana Vidwan and has received the Palghat Mani Iyer Endowment Award from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. His repertoire includes films too, having played for the song ‘Ami Je Tomar’ in the Bengali film Bhool Bhulaiyya . Other memorable moments are appearing with Ustad Zakir Hussain on Doordarshan and performing a jugalbandhi with Aditya Kalyanpur for Idea Jalsa.
