Adapted and directed by renowned playwright-director Gowri Ramnarayan, the grand niece of the iconic musician, Miradasi is a revelation on many counts. When you have a tribute show for an artiste like MS Subbulakshmi, there is enormous scope for presentation. However, picking up a side of the artiste that has probably never been touched upon, Miradasi will bring together bhajans by Mirabai, Tulsidas, Surdas, Kabirdas and Ras Khan.
A Justus Repertory Production will also highlight a towering musician and a less-discussed artiste called R Vaidyanathan, who was adept at Western classical and Indian classical music. Also known as Remaji his musical association with the legendary artiste in the late fifties or early sixties resulted in some of the finest tunes being composed in the form of bhajans.
In fact, the bhajan Hari Tum Haro that was recorded by MS at the request of Mahatma Gandhi in the forties were to set to music by Remaji.
Gowri, who accompanied MS in several concerts for almost 18 years, recollects, “I have been fortunate enough to watch the tunes being composed. There was a music room where Remaji used to endlessly compose music and MS Amma used to sit with him and learn the compositions. The entire process was fascinating for me as a kid. We talk about collaborations now, but they happened even then. It spoke of the artistic exploration that weren’t for the sake of performing. He could strike a conversation with children with such ease and was quiet and reserved among adults.”
She adds that the tunes she has chosen for the programme have probably never been rendered on stage by MS. The programme apart from being a tribute to the legend is equally a revelation for music lovers, as it brings to the fore the geniuses of an artiste like Remaji in the year that happens to be his birth centenary year.
“How did he learn Western classical music no one knows? He was adept at Hindustani and Carnatic music as well. He would talk about Beethoven and Tchaikovsky in great depth,” she adds, vividly recollecting her interactions with the artiste who died in 1990 in Amritsar. Today, Remaji is seldom discussed, despite the huge repository of works, a rare musical treasure he left behind and a vast repertoire of collaborations with other renowned artistes.
The programme that will see artistes like Nisha Rajagopalan (vocal), Padma Shankar (violin), J B Sruthisgar flute), K Arun Prakash (mridangam) and Anirudh Athreya (kanjira) also speaks of the influence MS had as an artiste on the music lovers in the North.
Having played the Mirabai in the 1947 classic Mira she acquired the status of a singer of bhajans in Hindi.
“MS Amma did a lot of house concerts in the North and people were especially moved by the divinity in her voice. I remember a Marwari once telling me that no other singer could have made him feel so close to god. He said that other singers also sang as good as she did, but it was only MS Amma who gave the divine connect. It is really astonishing that she established an identity as a bhajan singer without losing her primary image of the traditional Carnatic singer,” she adds.
Miradasi also emphasises on the image of MS as the saintly singer, who had a pan-Indian appeal.
“This is a side very interesting to me. As an artiste she broke all barriers including caste, creed and religion, emerging as an iconoclastic, touching many hearts. An artiste is not an ivory tower and MS Amma was a singer who touched the common man with her music,” she adds.
Miradasi will be staged at Rukmini Arangam, Kalakshetra Foundation on September 21 at 6:30 pm