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Stars, music enliven 'Gandharva Sandhya'

Indian Express, January 22, 2002

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 21: A stellar cast, an evening so perfect that it looked made to order, a massive crowd and then, music to take one back in time. The 'Gandharva Sandhya' organised by Swaralaya had it all.

The audience, which seemed to swell almost throughout the programme, were treated to more than three hours of celestial music with Yesudas, S P Balasubramaniam, Jayachandran, Janaki and others in truly inspired form. There was a sense of healthy rivalry, between the singers and the evening benefitted from that.

The choice of the songs was also ideal with the evergreens blending well with the present day hits.

However, spoiling the general mood were complaints that even families carrying passes were not allowed in due to the heavy rush.

Earlier, Yesudas presented the Swaralaya award to S P Balasubramaniam and also to Janaki.

The famed singer also handed over a document, which allows the use of Rs 10 lakh from the MPs local area development fund of V S Sivakumar, MP, for the development of the Swati Thirunal Music College, to Cultural Affairs Minister G Karthikeyan. Nellayi T V Krishamorthy was also honoured on the occasion.

Balasubramaniam stole many hearts as he spoke after receiving the award. "I have no guru in music and therefore consider everyone who has sung along with me as my gurus. But sometimes, I do feel bad that I do not have a guru in the real sense. I once told Yesudas about this but he asked me to shut up. He also added that would gladly be my guru if I so wanted."

"S P Balasubramaniam does everything; singing, composing and acting. He is an all rounder, and that shows in his frame as well," said Janaki evoking peals of laughter from the audience. "I am not active anymore in the playback scene but I cannot say 'no' when the Malayalam film music world calls," she added.

Earlier, Governor S S Kang formally inaugurated the programme.

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