Odi Vidu Paappa ...

[SabashBale]

... before listening to such stuff on Jaya TV Margazhi Utsavam!

[kvchellappa]

It was really awful. Bharathiyar was mutilated.

[sureshvv]

Can u folks explain?

[kvchellappa]

Here is one more opinion:
"Sriram V ‏
Mother of all #SeasonVumboids - my mom declaring that no artiste could mangle Bharatiyar's songs more than the one singing on TV"
I think it will be put up in youtube sooner or later. It is better to watch and understand.

[kssr]

Oh.Yes.

The discussion above refers to the Maragazhi Utsavam Jaya TV telecast of Sri. O.S.Arun's programme today, I guess. It is a totally new dimension of singing(?) Bharathiar songs. I sat thro' and not Odi Vidu as suggested here, as a devoted admirer of Bharathiar.
Started with Odi vilayadu paappa. An actual papa in the audience could not control her laughter with the strange beginning.
Others that I remember- not in the right order - consisted of
KaaNi nilam vendum

Chinnanchiru kiliye. Sri.OSA can sing all sangathis with exact brigas, if he wants to. But his insistence on giving the new "dimension" completely spoils it.

Mazhai- Hearing it for the first time as a Carnatic? song in a concert. As there are jathis, etc., I have never concentrated on this song, when I have read the complete works of SB. But some proper vidwan can really take up this song and present it in a grand way. Feasibility is definitely there.

Aasai mugam marandhu pochchey..

Kaakkai chirahinile nandalaalaa . Noticed that he said (in spite of a laptop in front) TheekkuL viralai vaithaal nandalaala nindan (instead of ninnai) theendum inbam... Meaning Lost. But it was the least of the problems. True to his reputation as a bhajan specialist, he took out all the nandalaalaas and multiplied it twenty times and arranged them nicely. Also took out pachai niram, kariya niram, geetham, etc., and arranged elsewhere. Also, pulled out kaakkai chirahu, ketkum oli, etc., . Hung all these strips in random order as pieces of meat and swung it around in different speeds ... nandalaalaa nandalaalaa nandalaalaa nandalaalaa ..... Mind boggling virtuosity. Some of you may feel bad; but didn't I mention that he had already murdered it and so no pain

Now listening to Kaakkai chirahinile by Sri.TNS to rinse my ears and mind.

[SabashBale]

One rendering (if it can be 'gouravichufied' with that noun) in particular resembled how the music teacher in the movie 'Shankarabharanam' raps his way through 'Bro-che-vaa-revaruraa'.

[CRama]

O.S Arun is already a no no for me. But what what time it it telecast. I have not seen so far.

[Vocalist]

I don't see what the fuss is about and how the unnecessary exaggerations achieve anything. O S Arun always sings like this and people love it or don't - I don't think there is an in-between. I know one of his fans; he explained to me he loves O S Aruns vocals and this type of dimension is what makes it interesting to listen to compared to more traditional styles of singing. I obviously don't share that view but that doesn't mean he is any less popular with the masses, or that people in the audience didn't like his music any less.

At least in the case of Bharathiyar verses, many were not set to a particular tune or Carnatic raga which is followed. Many many singers have set the verses to all kinds of unusual music and fx, then released it as albums which have been bought by the masses over the past 3 decades. I include OS Arun in that count, so the concert is just more of that.

I know of at least one other singer who has sung on (Star) Vijay TV for its Chennaiyil Margazhi Utsavam telecasts for at least 3 consecutive years; how he "mangled" compositions of Dikshitar, Thyagaraja, etc. was worse - and probably Brocheva too!

[Vocalist]

O.S Arun is already a no no for me. But what what time it it telecast. I have not seen so far.

It was at 5pm. I am sure you wouldn't have liked it if you did see it; I was flicking to other shows in between which should give you an idea of my view on it.

[grsastrigal]

O S Arun sings all compositions as abhang. Vijay siva sings all abhangs, (for that sake any kriti,) as tamil composition.

More brigAs for bharathiyar songs will shake bharathiyar and us too.

Tamizh mella sAgum (தமிழ் மெல்ல சாகும்)....!!!

Vocalist- I agree with you. He has good number of rasikAs. It is always full house, when he sings. His continuous chanting of "pAndurnga.." is very famous. He always gets chits after the first song itself.

May be, Bharathiyar may not be his "cup of tea"......

[rajeshnat]

Vocalist- I agree with you. He has good number of rasikAs. It is always full house, when he sings. His continuous chanting of "pAndurnga.." is very famous. He always gets chits after the first song itself.

I donot think he gets full house but a pretty decent crowd . Most of his concerts he keeps both tabla and mrudangam and he keeps roughly half of his concert with krithis and then he takes all the tulsidas , surdas and many other known/unknownDas bhajans etc . There is a crowd that can take equal amount of tulsidas , surdas bhajans and also that crowd will lose attention when there are too much of krithis and or RTP. Also he does a bit of abhinaya touch when he sings and his regular TV appearances have helped him to garner decent crowd. OS Arun has a small to medium exclusive niche. Early days of sangeetham.com i remember writing a review and attending his afternoon concert - if my memory is right he sang YAARO IVAR YAARO ENNA PERO- well that OS Arun and today's arun have gone tangential that sing is very appropriate to describe him YAARO IVAR YARO. OST and OS Arun though brothers are 100% opposite .

[prashant]

Is it O. S. Arun or O. No. Arun?

[arasi]

Yes, Prashant,
No Arun!

[sankark]

Vijay siva sings all abhangs, (for that sake any kriti,) as tamil composition.

.

That's irrelevant for this thread. And totally uncalled for as well

[kvchellappa]

It will be nice if 'do's and don't's are made known for the group.

[rshankar]

Sri OS Arun was recommended to me decades ago as an artist with good pronunciation- unfortunately, the first time I got to listen to him was when he accompanied a dancer, and began the program with a verse on gaNapati - his umpteen repetitions of agajAnana padmArgam (instead of padmArkam) burst that bubble very early on!

Other than that, he does well when accompanying dancers.

[sureshvv]

He used to sing carnatic alapanas for ragas such as Bhatiyar & Patdeep earlier in his career. Now he does Bhajan Sandhyas mostly

[pperumal]

Honestly, I don't think at least most Chennai-based Carnatic musicians that I have heard score high on lyrical aesthetics.
By this, I don't just mean getting the pronunciation right but getting the feel of the lyrics right as well.
The ones like Vijay Siva who are hailed as good with lyrics - merely focus on getting the word right and enunciate it clearly that's all - that is not always musical to the ears to me unfortunately.
When it comes to lyrical mangling - most current super stars are guilty as charged
This becomes especially glaring in Thyagaraja kritis

- PP.