Playback singer and classical musician Charulatha Mani has been bridging the gap between classical and film music for years now, and she says she plans to continue doing that in her upcoming concert, ‘Anju Vanna Poove: Charulatha Mani Live’, on April 4 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore.The concert promises to be a rich mix, as she shares she will be performing compositions of Saint Thyagaraja, MS Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, and AR Rahman, among others, including some of her own songs.“I’ll be performing these songs with swara improvisations. I always like to journey through music and time with a sense of wonder. I’m looking forward to bringing a cocktail of genres,” she says.Charulatha says soulful melodies drive her vision for the concert and adds, “I’ll also be tailoring crossovers. For instance, I’ll be bridging AR Rahman sir’s song Deewaana Deewaana from Tere Ishk Mein, which is in the Darbari Kanada raga, with the classical song Govardhana Giridhara.”Delving into the use of classical music in films, she states, “When you look at composers like Papanasam Sivan, G Ramanathan and KV Mahadevan, their work was based purely on ragas.She continues, “Idhazhil Kadhai Ezhudhum (Unnal Mudiyum Thambi), a song by Raaja sir, was composed purely in a rare raga called Lalitha. When you look at Rahman sir’s work, he used Nattakurinji, a very classical raga, in Kannamoochi Yenada (Kandukondain Kandukondain). He also used another rare raga, Saraswathi, in Kanava Mai Kaatra (Ratchagan) and in the famous BGM of Malargaley Malargaley (Love Birds). They adapted these ragas forbeautiful melodies, which went on to become big hits.”Her own work reflects this blend. “The raga-based song, Kannukkul Pothivalppen (Thirumanam Enum Nikkah) that I sang for Ghibran begins with a very classical raga, Mukhari, and moves into the semi-classical, beautiful raga Hamir Kalyani,” she says, adding, “People think Carnatic music is inaccessible, but everybody has sung, enjoyed and made reels on a song like this one.”Charulatha says her deep understanding of music comes from years of research on ragas, including a PhD from the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University in Australia. “I’m grateful for what that education and research have done to my brain. Once you do serious research, you start to look outside the box,” she states.
“I’ll be doing a lullaby medley with Anju Vanna Poove (Thug Life) at the centre, and will also include some of Lata Mangeshkarji and Mohammed Rafi’s songs to give it a nostalgic feel,” she concludes.