Mulund Fine Arts performance during May 10

An article by Bhanu Kumar in Mumbai Mirror :

Celebrations galore


Bhanu Kumar MULUND

Posted On Saturday, June 05, 2010 at 12:13:06 PM


Just five months after the mega annual festival it was time again for a mini festival at the Mulund Fine Arts Society, (MFAS).“We have made it a practice to arrange for three or four days of mini festival in early June every year at Mahakavi Kalidas auditorium. Last year the rains came early, so this year we decided to hold the festival in end May. Our members look forward to this festival as we host quality concerts,” says N Rajgopal, president of MFAS.





The first day, May 27 was a Bharatnatyam presentation by the disciples of Asha Sunilkumar from Thane. Asha, a senior disciple of Late Guru T K Mahalingam Pillai, went on to do her graduation in Bharatnatyam at Nalanda, Mumbai University and stood first. An efficient dancer herself, she trains many students at Sanskriti, an institution imparting training in Carnatic and Hindustani Music, Mridangam, Kathak, Keyboard etc.



“We have over 600 students who are enthusiastically pursuing learning of fine arts. It is the blessing of my guru who inaugurated my institution,” says Asha.The dance items presented by six senior disciples were devotion oriented. Titled Parikrama, the dance repertoire was a spiritual journey to seek the divine through the medium of dance.

The highlight of the program was Dasavataram, a quick run on the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The crisp thillana in Kathanakuthukalam composed by Dr Balamurali Krishna was the crowning glory. The poses and formations besides the well choreographed movements were proof of the pristine and precise training of the guru.

The second day featured Gayathri Girish, Carnatic vocalist from Chennai. Beginning with a brisk varnam in Panthuvarali, Gayathri went on to sing Sreevaralakshmi in Sreeragam and Nannu Brova in Abogi. A devotional rendition on His Holiness Jagatguru Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamigal in Sahana had popular appeal. Kamalambam Bajare in Kalyani was followed by Telisirama in Poornachandrika.

Gayathri took Reeti Gowlai for Ragam Tanam Pallavi. The next was a virutham followed by Gana Mazhai in ragamalika and the concluding Ponnar Meniyane.Endowed with a melodious voice, Gayathri was ably supported by the accompanying artistes Raghavendra Rao on violin and Poongulam Subramaniam on the mridangam. Rajesh Sreenivasan, senior mridangam artiste from Mumbai rendered percussion support on the Kanjira.

The concluding day had a scintillating instrument ensemble by Embar Kannan on the Violin and Sathyanarayanan on the Keyboard.
Speed and accuracy were the keynotes of the concert. A varnam in Nattaikurunji, followed by Srimahaganapati in Gowlai, Sogasujudatharama in Kannada Gowlai, Paripalayamam in Reeti Gowlai added to the pace for the concert.

Embar Kannan then took on Charukesi followed by Sumanesa Ranjani Ragam Tanam Pallavi with ragamalika swarams.
A bhajan, Eppo Varuvaro in Jaunpuri, an English note, Tamburi Meetithava in Sindhubhairavi and thillana in Kapi composed by the legendary violin maestro Lalgudi G Jayaraman completed the fare for the evening.

Young Sathyanarayan who has just finished his IX standard could give able support to the violin rendition of the senior Kannan. Percussion session by Poongulam Subramaniam and Rajesh Sreenivasan took the audience to a higher plane of appreciation and listening pleasure.

“It is an honour and pleasure to play for senior artistes from Chennai. My comfort level is better with mridangam but I play other percussion too on special occasions,” says Rajesh.“I have always admired his mridangam. It is amazing that he could bring out such fast rhythm in Kanjira and play with extreme skill and ease,” says K Kumar from Mulund.
“We wanted our members to have a series of good programs at the close of the summer vacation,” says M Sankaran, secretary of MFAS.
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