Kanne Kalaimaane-Moondram Pirai-Illaiyaraja

In 1983 "Moondram Pirai" took the movie buffs by storm! The film directed by "Balu Mahendra" won many awards at the National level including the best actor award for "Kamal Hassan", one of the finest actors India has seen. The film has picturesque locales from Ootty and the romantic mood the film created is still nostalgic. I remember having watched the movie almost 4 times from the theatre! The Hindi remake was also a huge success. The film had heavenly music by "Illaiyaraja" which was another big factor for it's success. All the songs were super hits! The song "Kanne Kalaimaane" is one of the best lullabies created. It was a rage in the campuses in those times. The song had Yesudas at his best. This song is loved by every music buff across the globe. I present this song which is one of my favourites too. I used to enjoy singing it in my College days.

Song: Kanne Kalaimaane

Film: Moondram Pirai

Music Director: Illaiyaraja

Original Singer: K.J Yesudas

Lyrics: Kannadasan

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HAPPY VISHU WITH RAVEENDRA SANGEETHAM!

Dear friends. Another Vishu greets us tomorrow. Again a new year starts. I started this Blog at the end of April 2006 and had never imagined that I would be doing this continuously for an year! On April 26th, I complete one year of blogging! This blog is still runnng due to the enormous support and encouragement from music lovers all across the globe. I have had thousands and thousands of friends who come here from orkut to hear my songs and give their encouragements. I wish to thank them too. I exist here due to your support, prayers and well wishes. On the occassion of Vishu I wish all of you a very Happy Vishu and hope that you will continue your support and love.
I present an evergreen song composed by my mentor "Raveendran Master" who still lives in us through his songs. When we hear his songs we realise how much sanity we have lost in music today.

Incidentally this song was composed the day I met "Raveendran Master" for the first time in my life at Brownstone Apartments In Chennai in 1992! I had the fortune of hearing it take life!

Song: Olikkunnuvo Mizhikkumbilil

Film: Chambakkulam Tachchan

Original Singer: K.J Yesudas

Music: Raveendran

Lyrics: Bichu Thirumala

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Easter Double!!!!

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Easter is the resurrection of Christ! It symbolises the victory of good over evil, love over hatred and hope over despair. On this occasion I present two devotional songs from two different albums in which I sang some years back. Wishing you all a very happy Easter!

Song: Karuna Roopan
Music: Joy Cheruvathur
Album: Angel

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Song: Yeshuvin
Music: Philip V Francis
Album: Kanneer

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Shankara-The Shankarabharanam Classic!

Some Films and Music never die. They etch an everlasting image in your mind which lingers on for the whole life. Such was the film Shankarabharanam directed by K.Vishwanath which came out in 1979. I still remember the day when I saw the film in "Sapna" Theatre at Trichur. The hall was totally packed. In fact the film was such a blockbuster that it ran for more than 4 or five months in a row with a packed audience! The film saw the return of classical music to films in South India. The film was a trend setter in every aspect of film making and music. The songs in the film set to tune by the musical doyen K.V Mahadevan were a treat for the ears and the mind alike. It was said that the first choice of the singer for the film was K.J Yesudas. But due to some reasons it did not work out and the onus went on to S.P.B to learn carnatic music for almost a month, learn and rehearse the songs and then deliver. It changed the career of S.P.B for ever and the rest is history! The amount of devotion and hard work put up by S.P.B fetched him his first National Award. All the songs in the film were gems! There may be differences in opinion on whether the songs in Sankarabharanam were purely in the classical mould or not, but the fact remains that this film brought an awakening amongst the younger generation towards classical music.

The song Shankara from the film has so much of energy about it. I have been fascinated by this song since the time I saw the movie and have been singing this as my opening song in many of my live shows. Today I try to re-create this immortal song in the best way that I can.

Song: Shankara

Film: Shankarabharanam (1979)

Original Singer: Dr. S.P Balasubrahmaniyam

Music Director: K.V Mahadevan

Lyrics: Veturi Sundararamamurthy

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