Ei Madhurati Jaeno Na Phuraay

Exactly a year ago, Murali Venkatraman introduced me to the amazing works of Haimanti Shukla. Instantly, I fell in love with her voice! It was not just the free flow of subtle nuances (you could find atleast a few intricate ones in each line!) but also the mood she so vividly captured in all her renditions that even a non-Bengali could relate to that made me listen to her songs again and again.

This particular song was my favourite from the bunch and I had promptly learnt it within a day of listening to it. The sangathis used to drive me crazy but I thought I managed to capture atleast a semblance of the inimitable original.

But then I waited and waited...till today, to sing and post this song! I was trying to get the lyrics sorted first with my very good friend, Sumit Da, who has helped me before with numerous such Bangla lyrics. I was trying to work with Shampak Chakrovarty, a very talented musician whom I met in Muziboo, to correct me on the diction and delivery of harkats. All this within a few hours today. Even as I was trying to do the mixing, I got this text from Sumit Da to correct just one word which we were unsure of! So this song is literally fresh from the Editor's desk! Of course in spite of all that hardwork, I would still have made mistakes. Please do bear with the same graciously:)

Shampak and Sumit Da- Thanks a million for putting up with my immense pressure to get this done TONIGHT! I owe you both a pint someday!!!

No gimmicks, no k-track, just unplugged- sincere and for the love of Haimanti's divine voice!

And , oh yes, Happy Birthday, Murali! :)

P.s: If you are not able to play the song, please download the same to play. Apologies for the inconvenience caused but still working on this problem. Ei Madhurati | Upload Music

Oru Kili Uruguthu

This is my most favourite female duet from all of Ilayaraaja’s. Until last week, it was the track I hunted for the most too.

After listening to “Endan kannil” from Sowmya, I approached her to see if she would be willing to sing with me if we got a track. She readily accepted. Thanks a lot, Sowmya! :)

This post would not have been possible if Raj had not found the track for us. Again, Vishnu came to our rescue by doing a fabulous job with the mixing. Thanks a million, dear Thambis!

Movie : Ananda Kummi

Music : Ilayaraaja

Originally sung by: S.Janaki and SP.Shailaja

Mixing : Vishnu Mohan

Oru Kili Uruguthu- with Sowmya.R Upload Music

Idhazhil Kadhai Ezhudum

This song is sure to appear in the top songs list in any IR fan’s diary. Until this song in Tamil cinema, many of us may not even have heard of a raga called LALITHA. Sheer revelry in the silken voice of SPB and Chithra!

When I asked Rajkumar Anjan if he will sing this song with me, he hesitated. First reason- That he wasn’t trained in classical music. If you listen to this song you won’t believe that to be the case: the sangathis flow so naturally in his voice! Second reason-That he did not have a good gear. But I honestly believed that his awesome expressions are going to make up for the technical shortcomings. Hence I had to coax him to do this duet :)

A very special thanks to Vishnu for doing the mixing for us. He spent so much time on it that he had to pull back on his own schedule. Such a selfless soul! :)

Hope you enjoy listening to our humble attempt. Please leave your comments and as always, thanks for listening! :)

Movie : Unnal mudiyum Thambi

Music : Ilayaraaja

Originally sung by: SPB, K.S.Chithra

Lyrics: Gangai Amaran

Idhazhil Kadhai Ezhudum- with Rajkumar Anjan | Online recorder

Orey Manam

Some of the best duets in the past decade have come from Vidya Sagar.

The soft classical touch in all his songs remind me so much of MSV’s compositions He is probably the best in choosing the right singer for the song too :)

I picked this particular song after listening to Vishnu on his blog (http://vishnusinger.blogspot.com/) and decided to give it a try! Hope you enjoy this Durbari Kanada beauty!

Movie: Villian

Originally sung by: Chandana Bala, Hariharan

Cover version: Vishnu Mohan and me

Chorus: Me and myself

Mixing: Vishnu

Orey Manam- With Vishnu Mohan | Online recorder

He Ghanashyaama - KizhakkuNarum Pakshi

I thought I will try out a Malayalam cover this time (taking a short break from unplugged versions LOL).

I simply love this Charukesi classic! It so happens to be another magic combo of K.S.Chithra- Raveendran Maash like the last one I sang (Arivin Nilaave) in a movie of my fav Lalettan ;)

This song perhaps took the most time to do because everytime I sang Krishna, I was choked with tears and could not proceed further. Also not to mention how I was constantly bugged by the gross injustice God (or what some call Nature) did by bestowing all His grace to Chithraji and leaving me with this gross deficiency in my voice.

If you have heard the original, you would also have wondered how she emotes differently each time she sings “Krishna”. Soulful music!

I want to thank my friend Abhilash Edathil for taking the pains to correct my Malayalam diction. LOL, Abhi, on how you were trying to explain “nhi” to me! :)

I feel I have given this my best shot! Please let me have your comments. And, as always, thanks for listening! :)

Movie : KizhakkuNarum Pakshi Music : Raveendran Originally sung by : K.S.Chithra Lyrics : K. Jayakumar

He Ghanashyaama - KizhakkuNarum Pakshi | Upload Music

Ezhu SwarangaLukkuL

When I started a blog, I promised myself that I will post atleast 1 song every week- a promise that I clearly broke. It has been almost a year since I recorded anything productive and worth publishing/ posting. Several interesting (some not so enjoyable) things have happened in the meanwhile and so music took a backstage. Now I am beginning to turn to Music as the only respite from the pressures of everyday life.

I wanted to make my comeback with an MSV number and had been thinking of this one for a special reason. It has been 10 years to this month that I won Sapthaswarangal. I still remember how I was standing in front of the great Vani Jayaram, shaking head to toe, trying to force some pleasing sound out of my mouth. Recently, I was watching a programme on the internet where she was judging and I was in tears when I heard her sing this song. Her utter dedication to music is evident in the clarity and perfection with which she renders any song for that matter. “EzhuswarangaLukkuL”, in my family’s language, is an “Asura paattu” due to the degree of complexity and difficulty. I sometimes feel that while giving songs to Vani, MSV must have made each song more difficult than the previous one to extract the best out of her. I have summoned a lot of courage (and audacity) to attempt an unplugged version of the song. I hope I will not be arrested for this crime!

Ten years have passed since I have known Subhashree Ma’am. If the meeting hadn’t happened, the manifestation of the musical me may probably never have dawned. I may never have endeavoured to lift up the mic and do some serious singing. I may never have believed that I could do it.

Today, I want to dedicate this song to Subhashree Thanikachalam to celebrate her 15 years in Onscreen Production and Direction. I may not have accomplished a great deal as a singer to make her really proud of me. But this much, I think I definitely owe her.

Movie: Apoorva RaagangaL

Music: MSV

Originally sung by : Vani Jayaram

Ezhu SwarangaLukkuL | Online recorder

Arivin Nilaave

The past few weeks have been quite hectic, both at work and home. Though I would love to have a long musical session in front of the microphone, I must wait till I see a few important things done and dusted. Right now, my mind is swimming in a sea of numbers as I try to master concepts in Finance and arm myself to face impending exams in Dec. This song was recorded long ago and only now did I summon the courage to post it for you.

Who doesn't enjoy challenges in life! We win some, We lose some. But isn't the excitement of facing them that fuels us up and keeps us from rotting in boredom!

When I was churning out one karaoke song after another (didn’t even relish doing some of those run-of-the-mill songs!), it was my friend Murali who made me listen to this song. I didn’t believe I could do it in the first place when he asked me to learn it.

Reason 1: The complexity of the song

Reason 2: If it went wrong somewhere (believe me, even an error of the slightest magnitude, almost inaudible to the human ear), there will be nowhere to hide from Murali’s utterly honest (if terribly wrong, scathing) remarks.

But the excitement of the challenge was too tempting. So here is my attempt for you to listen.

Movie: Rajashilpi (Malayalam)

Music: Raveendran

Originally sung by: K.S.Chithra

P.S: My dear Malayali friends will please forgive me for the utter murder of the language in some places!

Arivin Nilaavae (Malayalam) | Upload Music