A friend sent a link to a YouTube video, saying ‘since you like Ilaiyaraaja, listen to this’. And, that’s how I became one of 13,118 people who have so far viewed a medley featuring melodies of the Maestro and A.R. Rahman, fused beautifully by violinist Shravan Sridhar and guitarist Sabi Thankachan.
The video was released on January 5, and it’s slowly worming its way into people’s hearts, simply because each of the songs featured is an old love that refuses to fade. It helps that the video, produced by Picture Makers, has many things intrinsically Chennai — the waves, beach, swaying coconut fronds and rows of casuarina.
“We’d planned this as a tribute to A.R. Rahman on his birthday (January 6). We’d been working on it for some months, and things finally fell into place,” says Sridhar.
The medley begins with ‘Netru Illadha Maatram’ before moving on to ‘Anjali Anjali’ and the Western classical ‘Etude’. Then comes ‘Kandukondein Kandukondein’, before it culminates in Ilaiyaraaja’s ‘Endhan Nenjil Neengatha’.
“There’s an interesting bit where all songs intertwine,” says Sridhar.
So, why did they think of fusing the works of two composers? “As a musician, musicality is of primary importance. Even when I play in shows, a medley of ‘Endhan Nenjil’ and ‘Kandukondein’ is a given. The two are in one raga, Nalinakanthi. It is a lovely marriage of two songs, almost a natural progression.”
Shridhar, who is 23, grew up in Rahman’s era, and remembers loving ‘Narumugaiye’ from Iruvar , the first song he heard by the composer.
“Rahman was playing everywhere, but I stumbled onto Raja Sir’s genius very late. I delved into his compositions; so much happens in each of his songs…”
Thankachan and Sridhar don’t jam regularly, but this video is the result of one such musical outing. And, it was recorded over just a couple of hours. “We’d been busy for months, and then suddenly decided to do this,” says Thankachan, who works with G.V. Prakash Kumar, Hiphop Tamizha and Manikanth Kadri. “Many a time, even when we were playing, it felt like we were going back to childhood. That’s what melodies do.”
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgIV3PjRUIk&feature=youtu.be)
