Thursday, November 11, 2021

Raasathi Unnai - The Timeless Masterpiece

This song is literally a gem in every way. It has such a surreal confluence of folk infused with carnatic classical that makes it mighty special. It's hard to coin this into a specific genre as the template doesn't really give a picture of a genre perse but however the end result makes this composition truly stand out as a certified classic.

There is a legend which gets associated with this song whereby it's beleived that elephants used to assemble outside the theatre at the village of Cumbum in Kerala standing there with their trunks held high as the song was getting played.

Throughout the song one will get to hear lovely strumming at the background beautifully accompanying the vocal chords along with some lilting arpegio passages. The singer Jayachandran has given his heart out in rendering this number and you can feel the full strata of emotions in the vocal undertone.

My favorite part of this vintage number is the Charanam portion which dances along gregariously and connects back to the Pallavi. This incidentally was also the portion which I tried on the veena. Not sure if I was able to do justice but just even attempting to play this timeless masterpiece gives unbridled joy and happiness.