Bapu Padmanabha's Tunes In Allama Prabhu

The disciple of Hariprasad Chaurasia has composed music for TS Nagabharana’s period drama.

TS Nagabharana did not need to be convinced that when making a classic, he will need meticulous vintage elements, especially in the music. No wonder then that he zeroed in on Bapu Padmanabha aka Bapu Flute, a disciple of Hariprasad Chaurasia, to score the music for his period drama Allama Prabhu.

And they have been earnest in their approach. Both the director and music director took almost one-and-half years to ensure the right kind of music. It is interesting to note that the album will consist of six full-fledged songs and around 18 vachanas. When City Express spoke to the music director, he said that it was his debut. “I have been fascinated with Allama’s vachanas from the beginning. I was in the Himalayas, working on music for meditational retreats and composing tunes for World Music chants, when Nagabharana approached me. I was excited by the opportunity,” he said.

Hailing from Harihara near Davangere, Bapu started his music journey when he was 18 and became a disciple of Chaurasia in 1999. Now settled in Bengaluru since the last six years, he has been involved in creating music for mutts. And with Allama Prabhu, he is leaving no stone unturned, taking the movie album to an international audience under the name Aantardhwani. “We have released 12 albums including rudra chanting, lounge music, etc. I felt that the music of Allama Prabhu should reach international standards mainly because of the vachanas. On April 5, iTunes and Amazon are going to release the audio,” he said.

Explaining about the music, Bapu revealed that he had considered vachanas of Allama Prabhu, Akkamahadevi, Basavanna and Siddarameshwara.  In brief, Bapu says, “The mystic saint’s experience, which came through words of enlightenment related to life, lifestyle and inner spirituality, has been used in the music. There are two major songs -- one based on bala Allamma for which the lyrics were written by Dr Dodda Rangegowda, and another song Madana Manmatha is a sloka taken from Amara Kosha and is sung by Manjula Gururaj and myself. The song, which has an instrumental bend, will depict beauty and faith, which has a balanced flute music too. Pannaga Bharana (Nagabharana’s son), who assisted his father in the film, has justified the whole lounge feel that matched to my music. These two songs and the vachanas will be the highlight of Allama Prabhu.”

Other singers who have lent their voice include Shankar Mahavdevan, Rajesh Krishnan, Hemanth, Ganesh Desai, Sangeettha Katti Kulkarni, Manjula Gururaj and Tejaswini MK, a popular Carnatic singer. “I have also sung one song,” Bapu said.

According to him, although Nagabharana’s period drama is based in the 12th century, Allama Prabhu’s vachanas are an all-time hit. “Nagabharana allowed me to express all genres of Indian music in his film - Caranatic, lounge and instrumental. We have used folk instruments. People will get to hear the real Indian sound. I am sure that Allama’s music will bring back the language expressed from the heart, which has been lost in the 21st century,” he said.

Produced by Hari Khoday, the audio of Allama Prabhu will be launched today.

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