Click to play videoChennai: From a stage with a little room for experimentation, Carnatic music concerts now include film numbers, thematic performances and very non-classical touches.
South India’s classical music concerts these days are more playful and open to experiments.
"I thought I should reach to the mass so instead of targeting to one portion of the audience, I thought a large audience should be targeted,” says veena player, Revathi Krishna.
Revathi says that the same sabhas that turned up their noses at her experiment with film songs have now given her prime slots in the most traditional Carnatic music festival.
"Experiments weren't accepted earlier but now we need to think of new ideas to attract the audience,” Carnatic vocalist, Sudha Raghunathan says.
The artists however, perform not to appease the audience but their performance is just an extension of their personality.
"The musician and audience can come to a Carnatic concert and chill out,” says violinist, Ganesh.
"We speak English and Tamil together. We wear jeans and kurta. We love idli-dosa but we also like pizza and noodles. So that's the kind of life we lead,” he adds.
Some years ago, the audience would blacklist anyone who would not stick to the rules. However, now, old kritis are still revered but not believed to be sacrosanct.
Besides that, a Carnatic experiment succeeds only when the old form and new twist is in perfect harmony.
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