CHENNAI, November 12: If Margazhi comes, can music be far behind? Come this Margazhi, Carnatic concert will break into a totally non-traditional but a far more powerful stage. Thanks to a path-breaking initiative of two Chennai-based outfits, Carnatic concert will enter the cinema halls! Well, rasikas can see star vocalists Bombay Jayashri and T. M. Krishna perform not just in the city sabhas but also in theatres and return home with an incredible listening and viewing experience!

Jayendra Panchapakesan-founded Real Image Media Technologies, a well-known name in the field of editing film and television contents, and Aghal Films, a nascent initiative of stock-broker C. Srikant, have come together to jointly produce the country’s first-ever Carnatic concert for cinema. The film, titled “Margazhi Raagam”, is slated for a global launch on December 18, coinciding with the annual music season.

The 110-minute concert (nay film!), starring the two leading vocalists, is entirely conceived and directed by Mr. Panchapakesan. For Agal Films, Margazhi Raagam is its maiden production initiative.

This film is shot with seven latest red digital cinema cameras. It also has digital, uncompressed, six-track surround sound that will come alive with evocative visuals captured on RED 4k digital cinema camera. According to the producers, this is the first time anywhere in the world that seven such cameras have been used for a single shoot.

The film will be released in Blu-ray, DVD and audio CD in six- track surround sound. It is the first classical music concert to be shot in 4K and post-produced entirely digitally using these 4K images as source.

A team of technical experts, comprising national award winning people like P.C. Sreeram and H. Sridhar, has lent its knowledge for the production of this first-of-its-kind film.

R.K. Shriram Kumar (violin), K. Arun Prakash (mridangam) B.S. Purushotham (kanjira) and Emmanuelle Martin and Rithvik Raja (tambura) played accompanists for T.M. Krishna in the film. Bombay Jayashri is accompanied by Embar S Kannan (violin), Patri Satish Kumar (mridinagnam) and Chaitrra Prasanna and Keerthana V. Nath (tambura).


DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE: A pre-view of the film was screened at Satyam Cinema here on Tuesday. Ms. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Member of Parliament, was the chief guest.

A delighted Ms. Kanimozhi wished that the trailer could have been a little longer. It looked as though a chocolate had been snatched away from a child who was readying to savour it, she commented about the quick end to the trailer. Ms. Kanimozhi congratulated Jayashri and Krishna for their good work. "You both can still work together in future for more such projects,’’ she said. "This is a completely different experience,’’ she quipped. Though Margazhi was full of music concerts, the sound systems in many sabhas were quite pathetic, she said. "There are lots of distractions. One never gets to have a complete experience of what is happening on a stage. Devoid of all this, viewing the film Margazhi Ragam is such a tremendous experience,’’ she pointed out. "The voice, sound and everything … was so intense and deep,’’ she said. "Margazhi Ragam gives the full effect of a concert which can be preserved for posterity,’’ she added.

A DREAM PROJECT: For Mr. Panchapakesan, Margazhi Ragam is a dream project. He always pined to present Carnatic music in an evocative format, using the medium of cinema. He had to face technical constraint, however. But that changed with the advent of Red cameras, which facilitated the production of high-end resolution film. Work of the Project Margazhi Ragam took off as soon as Jayashri and Krishna gave their consent, he said. A unique feature of this film was that no mike was visible in front of the artistes. "Often artistes use the mikes as a security blanket while they perform in Carnatic concerts,’’ he said jokingly. The jokes on the withdrawal of the security cover aside, Mr. Panchapakesan insisted that the focus remained on the performers and their music.

Stock broker-turned-film producer Srikanth said, “Margazhi Ragam is a brilliant, exciting and weird experience. It has been a great pleasure. We have used the cutting edge technology”

NO COMPROMISE ON THE CONTENT: Jayashri asserted that there was no compromise on the content in Margazhi Raagam. In terms of concert, "both a conventional concert and Margazhi Raagam are the same,’’ she said. She felt that the cinema medium would help to draw a wider audience though the music was the same. "I never thought that the film would be so beautiful,’’ she added.

MISCONCEPTION: "It is a misconception that the regular content of Carnatic music will not appeal to a broader audience,’’ Krishna said. Did the cameras and the shooting affect his music? Not at all, said Krishna. "Most of the times I close my eyes while singing,’’ he said in a jocular way. He did admit that they were little unsure in the beginning if music could be created with robotic objects staring at you. These misgivings proved unfounded in the end, he said. "The experience was like sitting with colleagues and having fun,’’ he added

He said performing for the film Margazhi Ragaam proved quite easy and in no way the cameras were a hindrance to him. He said that the experience was not like that of a studio. He felt as though it was like a usual Carnatic concert.

ENGAGING EXPERIENCE: Mr. Tan Ngaronga, Chief Operating Officer of Satyam Cinemas, said it was such an emotional and different experience to watch Margazhi Ragam. ``The visuals are incredibly engaging and even for someone with little knowledge of Carnatic music. We are pleased to be involved in the launch of this film,’’ he said. Satyam Cinemas would play the distributor role. Janaki Sabesh, Business Manager, Real Image, coordinated the conduct of the pre-view of the film effectively.

FILMY CONNECTIONS: Well, there has always been this connection between Carnatic musicians and films. From yester-year greats such as MKT, GNB, Vasantha Kokilam, MS, MLV and Kunnakudy Vaidyanathan to modern artistes such as Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, Dr. M. Balamralikrishna, T.N. Seshagopalan, K.J. Yesudas, Sudha Raghunathan, Bombay Jayashri, Nityashree Mahadeven, Unnikrishnan have all either sung or acted in films. This connection is now sought to be taken to a new height in the modern age, where barriers in terms of distance and technology have disappeared. The real digital experience (RDX) of Margazhi Raagam could prove an `explosive’ one from what little one saw in the preview.

“This will be a positive step forward in providing alternative content for cinema medium”, said Mr.Tan Ngaronga. None could disagree with him.