Making some plain speak, celebrated singer K J Yesudas said that the new-generation music directors in the state were failing to create music that gel with our culture. Speaking after conferring the ‘Eenam Swaralaya Suvarna Prathibha’ Award to yesteryear singer M K Sukumaran here on Wednesday, Yesudas said that he would not, however, say that today’s songs were getting ruined.
“They may be giving what the people want. But our music should reflect our culture; composers such as G Devarajan did it with confidence. He had the confidence that what he did was hundred per cent perfect,” Yesudas said. The singer said that even now no music composer could produce music which was not based on the music of legendary composers such as G Devarajan, K Raghavan, M S Baburaj and M K Arjunan.
Showering tributes on Devarajan, he said that Devarajan had created a strong branch of music. “Devarajan had always
been a textbook to the learners of music. He had never done a song on the dictates of any one,” Yesudas said. Referring to the new trend of youngsters showing haste in becoming professionals, he said it would not help them in
the long term. “Music is an ocean. You cannot drink it in a day. You have to explore patiently to collect the pearls,” he said. “Music composition is not going after hits and imitation. A genuine composer will
select the raga suited for each song. If I say this, some composers will say ‘Dasettan’ is always quarrelling,” he said.
Yesudas said that he was confident about his approach to music and, if someone denied him songs, he would not bother. “I would like to sing the songs that touches my heart. I am not saying that every song should be classical in character, but the raga should suit the lines,” he said.
Yesudas was critical about the approach of the media. He said that he preferred not to interact with the media, as it misquoted everyone.
After learning a ‘Thyagaraja Keerthanam’ in Kanakangi raga for four years and performing it at Soorya Fest a few years ago, the media referred it to as a Hindustani number. “The media is adding to aggravate the tumour in the brain of society. They are not promoting what is good. Only the murky side of life is getting depicted,” he complained. Yesudas also performed the switch-on ceremony of the making of a documentary on Devarajan.