Playing to the gallery

“Munbe vaa… en anbe vaa…,” singer Aparna Narayanan was bang on target with her impeccable vocal timbre. She sent the audience at the Thiagarajar College Engineering into delirium with her performance along with music composer Prashanth Srinivas at the concert organised by the TCE Cultural Association.

Aparna did Sherya Goshal proud with her rendition of one of A.R. Rahman’s all time classics from Jillunu Oru Kaadhal album. Quickly she followed it with maestro’s popular number ‘Thendral vanthu theendum pothu’ from Avatharam. Though they came from the school of Rahman, the performers were not averse to songs from other composers as they packed their list with compositions of Maestro, Anirudh and others. “We are open to all music,” declared Prashanth. Their lyrical melodies like the ‘Pudhu Vellai Mazhai’ from Roja and engaging music had the audience spell bound.

With wide-ranging repertoire, Aparna handled songs from different genres with elan. Be it her debut film song ‘Thalli Pogathe’ from Ácham Enbathu Madamaiyada or ‘Maiyya…Maiyya…’ from Guru her musical interpretation was well appreciated by the receptive audience. Prashanth made his presence felt with his soulful presentation of ‘Dil Se re….’ from Dil Se.

Responding to the audience wish, Aparna sang the lilting melody ‘Tum hi ho’ from Aashiqui 2. She did justice to the song and was instantly rewarded with rapturous applaud. Prashanth also made the musical evening instructive with some explanations of musical terms like scale, keys and pitch in between the performance.

Aparna also sang slow numbers like ‘Malargal ketten, vaname thanthanai’ from OK Kanmani and ‘Kannalane’ from Bombay to showcase her artistic exuberance. Her eclectic mix of songs and interesting medleys had a stellar impact. She brilliantly mixed ‘Usilampatti Penkutti’ from Gentleman and ‘Aathangarai marame’ from Kizhakku Seemaiyile.

Aparna then followed it with the ‘kuthu’ song collections. She freaked out singing ‘Aaluma doluma’ from Vedhalam and ‘Dandanakka nakka’ from Romeo Juliet.

Prashanth was brilliant on his keyboard and also played melodica and flute with consummate ease. But it was a real challenging task for the other instrument players Joshua on bass guitar and Krishna on Cajun (a percussion instrument) as they were last minute inclusions in the team. They were in perfect sync with the star performers. They also showcased their musical talent without any rehearsal and practice.

Packs a punch

Like in any other concert, Aparna called for any local singer to join her on stage. After a brief silence, B. Subhiksha of II Electronics and Communications Engineering came on to the stage. Reticent Subhiksha got the microphone and said she wanted to sing ‘Chandralekha’ from Thiruda Thiruda. Everyone had their doubts as how she would sing the high pitched song. She proved everyone wrong with her stunning performance. She not only surprised the audience but also the professionals on stage with her strong voice presence. She stole the show with her flawless voice culture. She brought to fore the emotive contents of the lyrics with her exemplary modulation. “I am learning Carnatic music from my childhood and I am part of the college cultural team,” she says. S. Chitra Mani of I Environmental Engineering was a perfect foil to Subhiksha as she sang the slow number ‘Enna Solla’ from Thanga Magan.

New kids on the block

Even before ‘Thallipogathe’ could happen Aparna Narayanan was well known for her musical covers and tribute to Isaignani Ilayaraja on YouTube, which has got 7,28,000 hits. But film debut always values more in the industry and it was the same for Aparna. “I was brought up in Mumbai and I had no idea about singing till I reached ninth grade. I learnt Bharathanatyam in Mumbai. I shifted my attention to singing after we shifted our base from Mumbai to Hyderabad. I was sent to music class as my mother could not find a dance school closer to my home. That is how I became a singer,” she says.

She joined KM College of Music and Technology in a part-time vocal class. She was selected for Narumugaiye, an unplugged music programme and it caught the attention of senior musicians and she was called by Srinivas Murthy, to sing a brief portion for his Sunshine Orchestra. “I got a call from Rahman sir’s office and initially, I thought it was a prank call. But the manager was so serious and I went to his office. There was no one except Rahman sir. I was thrilled. I had the privilege of singing in front of him,” says Aparna.

She was also associated with other projects like 2.0, Mom, Kaatru Veliyidai, Sachin a Billion Dreams, 24, Kochadaiyaan, as a backing vocalist.

Aparna won the Sensational debut playback singer - Female for 2016 at the 31st MGR-Sivaji Academy Awards. She was also part of the ensemble that performed at the 2.0 audio launch in Dubai.

Her friend Prashanth Srinivas is a talented composer who has done numerous ad jingles and short films. He has a diploma in audio engineering and has graduated from the renowned Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television programme at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Prashanth has actively performed as a flautist for chamber ensembles and led vocal acapella groups in various parts of the country. Prashanth has his own studio Raagahaus in Chennai and is already busy with several film and advertisement projects.