Impromptu recital delights

I might have missed a delightful concert recently, had I not run into Ravi M Ravichandhira quite accidentally at a wedding on the same day. Ravi told me about the concert with vocalist Maharajapuram Ramachandran, an an impromptu “Chennai style” concert without the usual practice sessions that are the normal routine when visiting artists accompany debutants at arangetrams here. The interesting element was that not just me, but none of my friends had heard of this kacheri.

Ravi’s son Sai Nivaithan was to accompany this scholarly musician on the mridangam in the recital. It would be quite a test for Sai Nivaithan to be challenged into playing without having had previous interaction at this vocalist. Ravi seemed to be of the view that all senior students of the mridangam must be made to go through this form of challenge to acquire confidence as mridangists. The difference between an arranged arangetram and this kind of impromptu concert was that the accompaniments have to play for the vocalist and of course, the mridangist has to play for the violinist as well as the vocalist! One is not always mindful, as one admires the principal musician in a concert, say the vocalist, for his imaginative improvisations etc., that as the setter of his own agenda, the musician is always at a competitive advantage over the accompanists who have to literally dance to his tunes.

The concert was not very well attended, but an audience of more than two hundred including the fine resident artists of Melbourne, was probably on par for an unadvertised kacheri given also that we were in the midst of the wedding season. Having been in Chennai last December, the setting was reminiscent of proceedings there, complete with the comings and goings to the canteen in the foyer.

The kacheri itself was another satisfying demonstration of the melodic fluency that is a hall mark of Ramachandran’s style. For the senior rasikas in the audience, the bhani and the slightly nasal voice along with the choice of krithis evoked memories of his father Santhanam and even his grandfather Visvanatha Iyer.

The concert was adorned by the accompaniment of violinist BU Prasad, a disciple of VV Subramaniam. His solo the kalpanaswaram were aptly followed by the thani avarthanam by the father and son duo of Ravi and Sai Nivaithan. The thani rendered in 4 different tempos was performed with great panache by the youngster and with a pleasing competitive and challenging spirit. It was truly a feast to the audience. Particular mention must be made of the passage where the two percussionists blended two different beats producing a harmonious and pleasing dimension of sound. This effect of course, would have been impossible for a single mridangist to produce and brought to mind to the vocalist. His replication of the vocalist’s swaras showed his mastery and diligence throughout the concert.

It was not surprising, on returning after five years, that the performance was at the best of venues: the Arts Centre’s State Theatre for a mere 2 weeks. The show is much like the old one: about the history of the Bollywood film industry as seen through the family of Hiralalji Merchant (here as Shantilal Merchant) and his granddaughter Vaibhavi Merchant (Ayesha), two notable Indian choreographers. The musical has been described as “an Indian version of the Billy Elliot story” and is choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant herself. The Merchants of Bollywood features a cast of 40 performers and has received rave reviews.

A fictional story yet based on real life, The Merchants of Bollywood gives the audience an idea of the evolution of Bollywood cinema, especially the dances that are at the core the medium. This lavish new production features some hit songs and dance items from the biggest Bollywood blockbusters, more elaborate backdrops than before, and includes a write up which focuses a bit more on the history of Indian cinema than it did previously.

There are too, more classical and folk numbers in the new show – albeit rather short - and their fusion with modern dance and gymnastics was used cleverly to show Ayesha’s growth in Bollywood and the entertainment industry. Handsome and bare-chested Deepak Rawat’s energetic leaps and high octane gymnastics had the audience in raptures. There was something really joyful about the dances. Also, the folk dances and (too few by far) classical routines provided welcome relief and change of pace to the repetitive Bollywood numbers; when they showed the ‘transformation’ of Bollywood dance from the 1970s to the present, this reviewer could not see the difference – apart from the flared trousers!

Another delight was the choice of a relatively large number of Tamil krithis starting with a varnam in Tamil and following it with a viruththam from Bharatiyar’s Vinaayakar Nanmani Maalai in a cycle of ten beats. The Tamil words were enunciated very clearly to bring out the spirit of the poet, but without losing the lakshanam and beauty of the ragam.

The main piece was another krithi in Tamil – Saravanaguha bhavane - set to Madyamaavati in aadi thalam. The niraval Thanthaiyoodu thanaiyan and

Karaikudi Mani’s layachitra where he and the thavil vidwan Kaliyamurthi combined to produce the same delightful passage.

The Telugu krithi in Sankaraparanam set to Misrachapu thalam executed in slow tempo – Savukka kaalam - was a very soothing experience. The tail end pieces included SriChakraraja and Chinnansirukiliye in ragamalikai and the striking thillana replete with jatis challenging to the accompaniments crowned the kacheri to a memorable end.

The rich mixture of manodharmam and rhythmic structure throughout was a grand display of virtuosity by all artists on stage.

Sangeetha Priyan

The show did have many people dancing in the narrow aisles for some time – and would have had everyone up and swaying to the catchy numbers had the venue been outdoors

Chitra Sudarshan