For less money than a Gold Class PVR ticket, you can purchase a gold standard DVD on GNB-Isai Vaseekaran. After spending some hours with the remarkable young man Lalitharam, who has authored books on GNB and researched and put together this DVD, I bought it online in Kalakendra/Swati.
What a remarkable documentary. The narrative, the music, the encomiums, the quotes, the photos and cine clips, and more than anything else, the suffusion of an inexpressible richness or grandeur throughout, makes this DVD a worthy example of Carnatic music's tribute, nay hero worship, of GNB, a one-man epoch in the 20th century.
There are many many touching moments, rare musical insights, and lovely narratives (what a presenter this Madhuvanthi Arun is!)
I was deeply touched to hear the tribute shloka by S Kalyanaraman, the Kaanada line "marALa jayita" from GNB's composition Paranmukhamelanamma- sung at the promoting of Paramacharya- by Trichur Ramachandran...the Hindolam sung by an unwell GNB in his very last days at home to the request of overseas fans...
The "Vasudeva Eni" in that remarkable 8 minute gramophone plate, and so on and so forth. Ragas Gavati, Andolika....
The list is long.
MUST BUY AND MUST WATCH for every Carnatic music lover. There are two DVDs - 2 hours and 1 hour. I have gone through only the first!!!
