Magic Rhythm

That this Kochi percussionist, K. V. Prasad, accompanied the legend, M. S. Subbulakshmi for many years is news to many

November 27, 2009 08:40 pm | Updated 08:40 pm IST

K. V. Prasad

K. V. Prasad

April 25, 1981. The Kerala Fine Arts Hall was packed and overflowing. M. S. Subbulakshmi was in concert. With no money to buy tickets, K. V. Prasad and friend T. S. Radhakrishnan managed to sneak inside the hall and find a place beside the men in charge of the sound system.

Cut to 1984: Prasad was accompanying MS on the mridangam at a wedding concert in Chennai. Since then, for nearly 14 years, till MS ‘retired' from public performances, Prasad was there accompanying the singer on her myriad musical journeys. For him this association was an invaluable visiting card that opened many doors, helped establish him in a keenly competitive field.

The break

“I had just joined All India Radio, Chennai and played for a couple of radio concerts. One day Kadayanallur Venkatraman, the esteemed composer and my AIR colleague, told me that MS Amma wanted to meet me. It was like a bolt from the blue. I went, was ushered into a room where Amma and her husband were seated. She asked me to play and then her husband asked her to sing. Amma rendered a ‘kirtan', praying to all the gods I accompanied her. That was in June or July. In August I was called to play for her at a marriage concert,” recalls Prasad, who is now a top ranked AIR staff artiste.

The association extended beyond the stage. For Prasad, MS was a mentor, a close family member. “Amma was there for all important family functions beginning with my marriage. One moment that I consider most precious in my life is when Amma sang for my marriage. There was pin drop silence in the noisy wedding hall the moment she began singing. She was gracious enough to sing three songs that included the memorable ‘Sita kalyana…'”

But all this was not just luck. It was perhaps a reward for Prasad's long, tough struggle. Youngest of three brothers, Prasad owes everything to his father V. Krishnan, who was a manager with Castrol in Kochi. After his schooling at SRV High School, Prasad joined Sacred Heart College, Thevara. “I was a fairly good student and nursed ambitions of a post-graduate degree in Botany. But when I saw my parents struggle to meet the expenses of my elder brothers, who were doing engineering, I decided to work after my degree.”

A regular winner at the school and university youth festivals, Prasad had a scholarship that helped him pay his tuition fees in college. Even during his college days he was invited to play for some accomplished artistes for the chamber concerts conducted by TVS. He was also selected to represent the country at the World Youth Festival at Havana.

“I needed a job. My father had retired by then. I was elated when I was selected as staff artiste at AIR, Kozhikode on a monthly contract. But, a few months into the job, I was terminated. It was a big blow. I got a job with TVS, as a parts-picker. It was similar to the work at a grocery shop where you get a list, pick and pack iron, rubber, spare parts.”

The turning point came when his father asked him to send an application to AIR Chennai. “My father was instrumental in moulding my career. I cannot boast of any musical lineage. My father had a dream of turning me into a noted mridangam player. He made me get up in the morning, listen to the AIR concerts and asked me follow them on my mridangam.”

Hard work

From that bits-and-pieces-percussion artiste who played for different music troupes, including the western band ‘Stone Age,' for dance performances and occasional concerts, Prasad has grown into a much sought-after mridangam artiste. Through unflagging determination he has developed a style of his own from what was instilled in him by his ‘gurus' like Ernakulam Narayana Iyer, Prof. Parassala Ravi and Dr. T. K. Murthy. Blessed with deft fingers, an inborn sense of rhythm, Prasad is one of the best in the field today and has played for almost all the leading artistes.

His training in vocal music from Ottapalam Mahadeva Iyer also helped a lot when he accompanied vocalists. “Of course, playing for MS Amma certainly helped. But that alone was not enough. You needed to work overtime to establish and to the keep the hearth burning. I remember for nearly 15 years, from 1985-1998 I must have worked 18 hours every day. That was the time when audio recording was at its peak. I used to play for cassette recordings, for films and also find time to play for concerts. There were many in the film orchestra groups who asked me to cut out the concerts for which I was not being paid much. But I had a goal. I must have worked in over 500 films in various south Indian languages and with almost all the leading music directors, like Johnson, Vidyasagar, Ilayaraja, Raveendran Master and many more.”

Prasad, who was awarded the Kalaimamani title in 2000, also acted in a Tamil film recently. “This happened at the insistence of Fazil for whose films I have played since ‘Manjil Virinja Pookal.' I acted in a small role in his ‘Oru Naal Oru Kanavu.' Surprisingly, people recognise me on the streets for this role rather than all these years of playing for concerts. Maybe that had a lot to do with the super hit song ‘Kaatril varum geethame…'in this film which features me along with the other stars.”

Prasad attributes all his success to his family. His wife Usha has a doctorate in music and is into writing books on music. His son Krishna Kishor, like his father, is into percussion. He is a member of the Carnatic fusion band Zinx and is also into composing, while his daughter Krupaa Lakshmi dabbles in dance and music. “They are my strength, my future.”

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