Reverberating with awesome music, the Nehru Indoor Stadium was a haven for Chennai’s melody lovers that Sunday evening. Vani Jairam Golden Nite was on, and the singer who took centre stage continuously for four hours, seemed least fatigued by t he exercise. Regaling the crowd with her ageless numbers, Vani looked ebullient as ever.

Many of Vani’s Tamil solos, if you notice, are semi-classical pieces that have the beauty of Nature showcased in the lyrics and the strains, even as her voice transports you to the waters of the sea, the sky and the world of flowers she sings about.

Timeless compositions

You could feel the waves gently washing your feet, when the singer presented ‘Pongum Kadalosai’ in a stunning range! Vani’s pitch is incredible. It was a melding of a timeless composition (M.S.Viswanathan) and perfect rendition. Over the years, the Viswanathan-Vani combo has enthused listeners with some everlasting pieces, and the crowd went into raptures as she sang them.

Be it the ghazal-like ‘Maegamae …’ or ‘Muthu Muthu Thaerottam …’ you realised composers Shanker-Ganesh have used her for some of their scintillating songs.

A look at Lakshman-Sruthi’s manual orchestra that adorned the stage and you could surmise the lavishness of the feast that was to follow. With a worthy team in tow, Vani joyously served the delicacies as the gathering lapped it up one by one. Unobtrusive yet efficient, Sampath Selvan conducted the crew that included veteran violinists Shakti, Venkatesh and Prabhu among others. Be it the violins (Ilaiyaraja’s excellent ‘ABC Nee Vaasi’) the trombone (MSV’s ‘Kunguma Kolangal …’) the guitar (‘Andhamanai’) drums, tabla, trumpet, flute or sitar, the musicians were at their versatile best that evening. It showed the kind of rigorous rehearsals the troupe had gone through.

Chorus was another highlight. Only once did the group fail to take the mike on time. But just a glance from Vani and they got the message. At least one of them did. Whenever the crowd got a little restless, Vani’s slight hand gesture actually quietened them down! Fathima Babu was the emcee.

Mano’s cheerfulness and spirited singing was infectious. The crowd craved for more —especially after Vani and Mano sang the Rajini hit from ‘Moondru Mugam’ (‘Devamrudham’). (Watch out for the show on Vijay TV)

Enjoyable duets

Her duets with Unni Menon, (‘Andamaanai’ went down well with the assemblage, but the ‘Vasantha Kala …’ piece could have included the impact-making baritone bit at the end.) Harish Raghavendra, Srinivas (His ‘Ore Naal …’ with Vani was exhilarating) and Tippu were equally enticing. Tippu, however, went a little overboard in his improvisations for the ‘Mazhaikkala Maegam Ondru’ song.

Thirty eight years of incessant singing with a repertoire that includes all classical genres, but Vani’s voice continues to be as blemish-less as ever! Stage perfection such as this is hard to come by. And sustaining the tone, tenor and tempo for hours is a daunting task. But Vani managed it all with élan.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Sep 21, 2007