A catchy prelude on the violin, which nearly appears like the people pulavan veena performed throughout sarpam pattu – opens the Navarasam – a ritual dance carried out in temples by ladies of the Pulluvar neighborhood throughout snake worship ceremonies in Kerala – music from Kochi The eponymous debut album by based mostly band Thackuddam Bridge. Helmed by founder and frontman Govind Vasanta, the stellar masterpiece is constructed with heavy guitars, huge echoes, Vipin Lal’s smooth voice, and rock frenzy after Joe. The sound swells as if an enormous orchestra is pumping it, discovering a state of reverence with some smooth vocals. This is a good sonic extravaganza that hits the spot.
The band garnered a lot consideration for the music, which additionally made it to the credit score of Manoj Bajpayee and Samantha Ruth Prabhu-starrer, The Family Man. But what Vasanta and the band did not anticipate was that they might discover parts of this 2015 excerpt in Rishabh Shetty-starrer Kannada movie, Kantara – nineteenth century, a few deity named Bhoot, who will get the native king to provide away a few of his forest land to the tribals, which is claimed again years later by the king’s successor. The music Varaha Rupam in Kantara opens with an identical prelude, solely it’s performed on a nadaswaram. Vasanta informed The Indian Express, “I came to know about the song when people started messaging and congratulating the band for appearing in Kantara. I listened to the song they composed and I felt it impressed. is beyond being.”
Vasanta, who’s sad with the copyright infringement, has already shaped a authorized staff to prosecute the filmmaker, producer and Kantara’s artistic staff. “There is a process to these things. They could have actually asked us to use the song and we could have tweaked it for them. It would have been nice for the filmmakers to use an independent band in their film,” Says Vasanth, who’s now a famend musician within the Tamil and Malayalam music business and a sought-after is thought for his signature mixture of classical and modern sound.
According to the band’s bassist Vian Fernandes, if the music had solely been impressed, they might have let it go. “Sometimes, we like certain flavors and we try to bring them into our conversations. But taking off the track and adding every element, including the orchestration, and not giving credit to the cast is a different ballgame altogether,” Fernandes says.
Post the controversy on social media and earlier than the band determined to take the authorized route, Kantara’s musician Ajneesh Loknath known as Vasant and was upset by the controversy. “He actually did not settle for the plagiarism half. I additionally compose music for movies and I consider there are very totally different pressures in that world. So I am unable to simply blame Ajneesh for it. Me. Sure the artistic folks concerned or the writers and producers used Navarasam as a reference for his or her music. In my expertise, a number of filmmakers let you know they need a music to sound like one thing they’ve already heard. But often one creates one thing in the identical vitality and vibrancy. Ajneesh was very well mannered and I consoled him, however the issue exists,” says Vasant.
While the multilingual and acclaimed piece is shrouded in layers of which means, at a primary stage it displays the thought of the performing arts that had been as soon as discovered on the toes of a grasp and the way they’re quick turning into ‘a demonic ghost’. In addition to the efficiency of the Navarasas—the 9 moods described within the Natyashastra—and based mostly on the world of Indian performing arts (music, dance and theatre). But the music additionally speaks volumes concerning the caste prejudice so deeply rooted in the identical world. Story. To illustrate the thought, the band took the Navarasas and carried out them via Kathakali – one of the vital recognizable dance types from India to India that mixes dance, storytelling and mythology, one thing that It can be the artwork kind that the music’s founder Govind Vasantha (earlier Menon) grew up watching his elder brother carry out after spending hours on elaborate make-up, costumes and rice-paper masks on the face. “Seeing my brother back home in Irinjalakuda (Thrissur) learning and dancing Kathakali had a huge impact on me,” she says.
The story of the music, as proven within the music video, is a few younger boy studying Kathakali from his mother and father, who’s bullied in school by ‘higher caste boys’ and finally tries to flee the beating. He jumps into the properly. “There are many layers to this piece and I leave it up to people to explain,” says Vasanta. While that is the story of the humanities, their magnificence and decline, it’s also the story of these from the decrease castes who want to apply the “higher arts”. The story most likely comes from the marginalized neighborhood of Ezhavas, lots of whom adopted Kathakali. Kantara’s video makes use of imagery of Garudi Gombe, which incorporates heavy Kathakali-like apparel and face paint.
Thaikuddam Bridge got here into focus in 2014 after they had a digital world with wild musical mishmash. What set him aside was his quick however fascinating songs marked by versatility. As far because the distinctive nickname of the band is worried, it was one thing they got here up with. Vasantha as soon as mentioned, “All the hunky, funky, lean, mean, fat, brat members of the band jammed themselves in a room near the Thakkudam Bridge in Kochi.” All the music was his personal.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
