A Battle of Monsoon Ragas Rains Melodies

A Battle of Monsoon Ragas Rains Melodies

When acclaimed guitarist Prasanna played raga Amrita Varshini, the audience gathered at the Sivagami Pethachi Auditorium, Mylapore, applauded warmly. But when he went on to say that he was going to play the song Thoongadha Vizhigal Rendu (of the same raga) from the 1988 superhit Tamil film, Agni Natchathiram, the applause grew louder.

The guitarist, alongside flautist Vijayagopal, played the tunes of the song as well as a fusion based on the raga. The duo’s performance was a part of the monsoon ragas rendered at the ‘Barkha Ritu’ festival.

Following the guitar-flute jugalbandi, Ustad Shujaat Khan, son of popular sitar maestro Vilayat Khan, joined them. With his mellifluous voice, the sitar maestro also went on to sing popular ghazals such as Tumhari Sheher Ka Mausam, Chap Tilak and Aaja Re Nindiyan, while making improvisations on the same compositions along with Prasanna and Vijayagopal.

Complementing each other’s performances, the collective rendition made for a magical evening.  

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