A strong voice that produces stable karvais as well as brigas works to the advantage of Pantula Rama.
She settled down with poise at the sprightly presentation of Mysore Vasudevachar’s ‘Pranamamyaham’ in Gowla, displaying a variety of sancharas in the Sriranjani alapana. A remarkable clarity in the mandhara sthayi adds to Pantula’s raga essaying.
Thyagaraja’s ‘Marubalga’ that followed had vibrant phrases in the kalpanaswara that were neatly rendered. An elaborate Behag alapana, with measured brigas and unique phrases were a delight to listen to.
She took up Swati Tirunal’s ‘Smara Janaka’ and decorated it with niraval at ‘Phaala Shobita’, the second line in the charanam, with the composer’s mudra. Detailing such a raga and composition in a slow pace requires tremendous creativity and she did full justice to it.
Pantula sustained the fervour with a speedy ‘Sobillu Saptaswara’ in Jaganmohini, beginning from the anupallavi lines ‘Nabhi-hrid-Kanta-Rasana.’ She handled this Thyagaraja composition well, with swift chittaiswarams before launching into an expansive Surutti alapana. It had distinctive swirls and long phrases landing on the dot. Thyagaraja’s well-known kriti ‘Geetharthamu’ was presented with traditional sangatis.
Violinist M.S.N. Murthy lent huge support with clear understanding of the phrases the singer presented. Both in Behag and Surutti, he displayed his proficiency with ease. The kalpanaswarams dominantly patterned in sarva-lagu brightened up the session. Young N.C. Bharadwaj, a disciple of maestro Umayalpuram Sivaraman, was on the mridangam.
Incidentally, Bharadwaj is the winner of the Mudhra kutchery competition and used the opportunity well to showcase his talent.
His soft yet confident strokes lent a melodious feel to the kritis. The thani avarthanam that he and ghatam artist Udupi Sridhar presented was pleasing, replete with eloquent syllables. ‘Jaya Jaya Nrisimha’ in Sindhubhairavi composed by Pantula Rama’s violinist husband M.S.N. Murthy was intense with typical phrases in both madhyamas. She concluded the concert with an Anandabhairavi tillana composed by Thanjavur Shankara Iyer in which the tempo of the rhythm blended well with the sahityam.
