). The topic of discussion was, "Which contributed more to Bhakthi and Bhava filled music reaching the masses - Traditional music or Film music"?Traditional music was defended by Santhanaveli Neigopalan
, (one of the many PJs cracked by the maestro), Kumaresh and B.Suchitra (katha kalakshepam). Film music was defended by Gangai Amaran, Deepan Chakravarthy & Vazhuvoor Manikka Vinayagam. It was two hours of non-stop conversation mixed with singing with accompaniments (Dr. Narmada and Ganapathyraman for Carnatic, Keyboard and tabla players (Rajesh?) for Film music). Although there were several jibes and sharp barbs, there was a strong undercurrent of respect for each other and decorum was maintained without descending into an "Arnab Goswamy" kind of debate. Kudos to Subhashree for that!Y.G.Mahendran was at his extempore best, feeding off of all exchanges - from the two teams, Subhashree and even the audience. He has never been this funny even in the movies. Deepan Chakravarthy and Manikkavinayagam were so low key initially but pretty much slam dunked the argument when offered their turn to speak.
Several points were made and debated from both sides:
1. Film music has made Carnatoc music inaccessible
2. Language is an important medium for music
3. Music has to appeal to all religions and subgroups
4. You need a certain discipline in the way you approach music
PJs were overflowing. Neyveli Santhanagoplan said in all seriousness that one cannot sing "Machanai Paatheengala" in God's presence and YGM said "Only if you are enquiring about Vishnu in the Sivan sannidhi". There were many such repartees and may be other attendees can fill in.
Both teams agreed that film music of late has nothing much to offer