THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s the fifth time that the Kochi-based Viji Musics is treating the city of Swathi Thirunal to a feast of music records. The sheer abundance of music CDs and DVDs would leave an aficionado spoilt for choice at this one-of-a-kind exhibition.
Currently on at the Jawahar Balbhavan, the CD and DVD exhibition has not just music records of all kinds, but also instrumental music, dance recitals, classic English films, BBC documentaries, contemporary plays and educational materials. In its fifth edition, the exhibition has warranted little by way of advertisement. Ramachandran, who runs Viji Musics on Marine Drive, Kochi, only needs to greet his regular customers who would take the tour by themselves, stopping to check out new additions and relish favourites. The others, first-timers guided by word of mouth, are introduced by him to the flattering variety of audio-visual delicacies.
There is enough to cater to the taste of every person, as is evident from the profusion of visitors. A joyful little voice singing of the adventures of ‘Appukkili’ welcomes one into the hall on the first floor of Jawahar Balbhavan. ‘Appukkili’ is the sequel to ‘Kusruthi Kutti’, an animation CD that revolves around a little girl and her birdie friend.
Butterflies, its city-based production company, has a host of educational audios and videos such as those on Spoken English, Public Speaking and Communication Skills, Interview Skills, Malayalam and Hindi basics. Little ones can also have fun listening to ‘Muthassi Kathakal’, rhymes and ‘Alphabets made easy’.
Poems for children penned by legends such as Kumaran Asan and rendered melodiously by Madhusoodhanan Nair, would be a find for many a parent.
There is a whole range of DVDs of dance recitals by stalwarts - Kuchipudi by Manju Bhargavee, Mohiniyattom by Sunanda Nair, Kathak by Pali Chandra, Nangiarkoothu by Margi Sathi and so on.
The Hindi music segment is abundantly rich with collections of Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and so on. This year, an added attraction is a collection of the episodes of the famous radio programme, ‘Geetmala’, which used to broadcast choicest Bollywood film songs of a bygone era. The anthology, complete with the anchoring by Ameen Sayani, is available in combo packs.
Even as you devour the film music collection, the ghazal CDs stacked up on the adjacent table vie for attention. The Hariharan-Ustad Zakir Hussain combination will sure have music buffs drooling over it while there are quite a few good choices in the Malayalam ghazal segment such as those by Umbayee, Nisa Azeezi, Shahabaz Aman and Gayatri.
Among the old Tamil collections, devotional hits of T M Sounderarajan and M K Thyagaraja Bhagavathar are new additions.
For the devouts, there is a huge collection of Hindu, Muslim and Christian devotional songs. Six volumes of Kathakali DVDs - ‘Thorana yudham’, ‘Uthara swayamvaram’, and the like - and Kathakali ‘padams’ are available and so are CDs and DVDs of other traditional art forms like ‘Sopana Sangeetham’ by Njaralathu Rama Pothuval, ‘Panchari Melam’ by Chendamangalam Unnikrishna Marar and so on.
The BBC series of travel shows in India anchored at different times by Michael Wood, Michael Palin, and Sanjeev Bhaskar, the BBC productions of major Shakespearean plays, and a series of Sherlock Holmes movies are rare picks. And so are the whole range of exclusive Doordarshan DVDs of performances by Gangubhai Hangal, Pt Jasraj, Begum Akhtar, Sonal Mansingh and Rudraveena concert by Ustad Asad Ali Khan.
The exhibition will conclude on September 28.