Kaatrin Mozhi

Mozhi-the pleasant blockbuster of 2007 holds a special place in Tamil film history. It is credited with a neat storyline, skilled starcast and above all..music with melody ruling the roost after a really long time in Tamil films. The title song was a chartbuster hit with meaningful lyrics and a simple yet fresh tune by Vidyasagar. Here's a recording of this song performed by Mayuri and me at Arizona Tamil Sangam in August 2007.


Album: Mozhi
Composer: Vidyasagar
Cover version by Mayuri Ray and Karthik R



Kaatrin Mozhi | Online recorder

Konja Neram Konja Neram

Here's presenting a song from Superstar Rajinikanth's hit movie 'Chandramukhi'. With a storyline based on Fazil's malayalam movie Manichithrathaazhu and refreshing tunes by Vidyasagar, the movie went on to be one of the top grossers of 2005. This song was received well at multiple occasions, the most recent being Arizona Tamil Sangam Deepavali celebrations 2008.

Language:Tamil
Album:Chandramukhi
Composer:Vidyasagar
Cover version by Mayuri Ray and Karthik R


Konja Neram Konja Neram | Music Upload

Naguva Nayana

Today's post is an all-time hit duet composed by Maestro Ilayaraja for Manirathnam's debut movie 'Pallavi Anupallavi' in Kannada. The movie featured the hindi actor Anil Kapoor in a lead role. I performed this song at the AID benefit concert on Feb 20, 2009 at Phoenix, AZ alongwith Mayuri Ray.

Language: Kannada
Album: Pallavi Anupallavi
Composer: Ilayaraja
Cover version by Karthik R and Mayuri Ray



Naguva Nayana | Online recorder

Arey Rey

Among the new age music composers, Mickey J Meyer has struck gold with his debut album 'Happy Days' released a couple of years back. Set against an engineering college backdrop, the movie was a pleasant success with attributes like director Shekhar Kammula's fresh and youthful approach, peppy music and brand new starcast. Today's post is a popular song from this album. I performed this song accompanied by the noted Telugu playback singer and composer Shri G.Anand's orchestra 'Swaramaadhuri' on May 30, 2009 for Capitol Area Telugu Society, Baltimore.

Language: Telugu
Album: Happy Days
Year: 2007
Composer: Mickey J Meyer
Original singer: Karthik
Cover version by Karthik R



Arey Rey from Happy Days | Music Upload

Marumallello Ee Jagamantha

Oscar winner A.R.Rahman, the strongest music force spanning close to two decades, needs no elaborate description. His humbleness is as large as his achievements and this is an invaluable virtue not seen in many of his contemporaries. His partnership with Manirathnam has never failed to exceed one's expectations since the days of 'Roja'. Today's post is an ode to peace composed for the movie 'Amrutha' released in 2002. The story revolved around a child's search for her mother in the troubled borders of Sri Lanka. The song conveyed a strong message for the need of world peace. One of the simple yet soulful, serene yet strong compositions of the maestro. Jai Ho to ARR!

Language: Telugu
Album: Amrutha
Year: 2002
Composer and Singer: A.R.Rahman
Cover version by Karthik R




Marumallello Ee Jagamantha | Online recorder

Ambadi Poonkuyile

After a hiatus I'm back with a cover version of a personal favourite from Salilda's Malayalam repertoire. This song was composed for the movie 'Raagam', the Malayalam remake of 'Anuraag' with some obvious classy and trademark techniques of Salilda. Deriving the tune from his own Bengali composition (Jodi Barono), he pleasantly re-orchestrated it to give an evergreen touch. While the Bengali version was rendered by Lataji, the Malayalam version was handed over to 'Lataji of the South'- the undisputed melody queen, P.Susheela. This remains one of her concert favourites till date. Hats off to the magical duo-Salilda and Susheelamma.

Original singer: P.Susheela
Composer: Salil Chowdhury
Album: Raagam
Cover version by Karthik R



Ambadi Poonkuyile | Online recorder

Varu Varu Nee Virunnukaara!

Up next in the Salilda Malayalam series is the following fun song - a totally cool composition from the maestro released in late 70s, albeit being way ahead of its times. I performed this song in a Salilda-exclusive medley segment at a fund-raiser held in Arizona on Feb 21, 2009 alongwith Mayuri Ray, the seniormost female vocalist of our music troupe (titled 'Sur aur Taal'). The benefits from this programme went to help the needy through an organization called AID(Association for India's development), which does a noble voluntary service in this regard.

Mayuri Ray is a very talented singer of Bengali origin and the torch-bearer for 'Sur aur Taal'. This was her debut song in Malayalam and she did try her level best to get a hold of the tricky diction. We enjoyed rendering this song which broke the monotony in the medley to conclude it with a sharp contrast compared to the preceding segments.

Varu Varu Upload Music