Imagine traces of raga Dhenuka seamlessly blending with beats emanating from percussion instruments played by the artists of Kaniyan Koothu, a folk art performed at Sudalai Madan temples.
Music composer Ilaiyaraja has come up with an exotic blend of folk and Carnatic music “Ada inge yethukku”, a song in soon-to-be-released ‘Padithurai'. The song, like several others composed by the maestro, captures fine nuances of both traditions and makes the listener want to instantly dance.
“It is not as if that he is listening to Kaniyan Koothu for the first time. He briefly used the percussion instrument in the film Kadhal Ovivam. But in my film, he has used the instrument in a full full-fledged manner,” said director Suka, who is also trained in Carnatic music.
Break-neck speed
With magudam and mandham playing in break-neck speed, a group of singers including Priyadharsini, Maya, Manikavinayagam, Velmurugan and Mukesh have rendered the song in an equally peppy manner. Lyricist Muthulingam has penned the song.
Perfect synchronisation
“Mr. Ilayaraja liked the manolayam of these artists. So engrossed was he in their music, that he wondered how they could achieve such perfect synchronisation,” recalled Mr Suka.
Magudam, the sharp version of percussion instrument is played by one person while the bass is played by another player.
“When they heated the instruments to fine-tune the shruti, Mr. Ilayaraja excitedly called everyone at the Prasad Studio to listen to them. He brought a lot of gifts and shawls from his house and honoured them,” Mr. Suka said. The artists belong to Mr. Thangasami's troupe in Tirunelveli district.
Mr. Suka said all the songs in the film have been based on Carnatic ragas. Vocalists Sudha Ragunathan and Bombay Jayashri have together rendered ‘Therodum veediyile' a song based on the raga Saranga. Tamil novelist S. Ramakrishnan, who has penned scripts and dialogues for many films, has written this song.
Another song ‘Nadi meedu odum' in raga Hamsanandi has also been sung by Bombay Jayashri. Mr. Suka has also roped in Sahitya Akademi Winner Nanjil Nadan to write a song for his film.
The song ‘Unnai maadiri' in raga Mand has been rendered by Bela Shinde.
Singers Karthik and Bhavatharini have sung a duet ‘Enna valachu..' based on raga Bhimplas.
“Story the hero”
“The story is the hero of the film. Almost everyone in the unit has acted in the movie. Editor Suresh Urs and art director Krishnamurthy have also appeared in the film,” Mr. Suka said, adding that it would be released soon.
