“It is truly a sight to look at M.S. Viswanathan play the harmonium and compose a song,” Carnatic musician Madurai G.S. Mani said, at the re-launch of ‘Thrilling Thematic Tunes,’ a CD, comprising songs of M.S. Viswanathan and his orchestra here on Sunday.
Reminiscing about his 57-year-long friendship with music director M.S. Viswanathan, Mr. Mani said if people appreciated the novelty in his Carnatic music concerts, it was owing to the lessons he learnt from assisting Mr. Viswanathan.
“It is true that he had a deep admiration for Naushad Ali. But there was a time when Naushad Ali was so busy that he suggested and directed people to MSV for re-recording. He certainly stands apart from other musicians because of his light music,” he added.
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Film producer and director Muktha V. Srinivasan said there was an amazing turn that Mr. Viswanathan’s music gave to Tamil movies.
“Once, when I happened to be in Kolkata, I saw the musical genius Pankaj Kumar Mullick listening to MSV’s songs,” he added. He recollected how Mr. Viswanthan would have just a bottle of water by his side when he composed music and work tirelessly till he was satisfied with the tune.
“I remember an incident when an ailing woman in Yercaud, who died shortly after, said her last wish was to have MSV’s songs play during her funeral,” he added.
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President of cine musician’s union S.A. Rajkumar, music director Gangai Amaren, musician and recording engineer K.S. Ragunathan, lyricists Pulamaipithan and Muthulingam and Anand Thiagarajan, chief manager of Saregama India Pvt. Ltd., were among those who spoke at the event.