‘Ennai theriyumaa naan sirithu pazhagi karuththai kavarum rasigan ennai theriyumaa’ singer Karthik appeared on stage singing this classic number from the 1960s to an eager audience who smiled, clapped and cheered. As he waved and moved on to the evergreen ‘Avalukkenna azhaigya mugam’, the claps became louder. The Hindu November Fest retro evening, presented by Karthik, Shweta Mohan and Shakthisree Gopalan, a throwback to the music of 1960s and 1970s, connected with the young and the old who had gathered at the PSG Medical Sciences auditorium. Are you having fun? asked Karthik, as he launched into the popular ‘Kannale pesi pesi kollathey’ sung originally by P.B. Sreenivas in the 1960 comedy Adutha Veetu Penn that featured veterans like K. A. Thangavelu, T.R. Ramachandran, and Anjali Devi. Karthik took some time off and introduced his musicians — Keith Peters (bass guitar), Joseph Vijay ( guitar), Navneeth Sundar and Rajesh ( Keyboard), Daya Sankar (drums), K. R. Shruthi Raj ( tabla ), Santhosh Chandran (acoustic guitar) — who enlivened the evening with their exceptional performance. “If you think these guys are amazing, just keep clapping ,” he told the audience who responded with a good round of applause.
More music followed… ‘Aha mella nada’ featuring Sivaji Ganesn and Saroijini Devi in Puthiya Paravai was greeted with loud cheers. And, the audience danced to the beats of ‘Pennai parthu nilavai parthaen’ that followed. When singer Shakthisree joined him for the melody ‘Andru vandhathum adhey nila’, everyone was clapping and singing along.
Singer Shweta Mohan chose some of the best numbers for the evening …the lilting ‘Naalai indha velai paarthu odi vaa nila’ that won a National award for P. Susheela; ‘Chittu kuruvi mutham kuduthu’, and joined Karthik for ‘Kalayana naal paarthu’, a waltz composed way back in the 1960s.
Most compositions highlighted the musical genius of composers like M.S. Viswanathan who never let their music overpower the beautiful lyrics.
Jazz vocalist Arjun Chandy and Karthik took the audience to the club music of Manhattan of the 1950s, students from A.R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory came up with an Acapella performance, and then there was veena player Rajesh Vaidya who took the evening to an all-new level with his performance.
