AN INTERVIEW WITH UNNIKRISHNAN

In his early thirties, suave and soft-spoken, P Unnikrishnan is a far cry from the archetypal Carnatic musician. Net savvy and an ardent cricket lover, he is a Commerce Graduate from Madras University and a Postgraduate Diploma holder in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations.

Among the accolades conferred on him are the title of ‘Isai Peroli’ by Karthik Fine Arts, 'Yuva Kala Bharati’ by Bharat Kalachar, 'Nadha Bhushanam' by Shanmukhananda Sabha, New Delhi, and ‘Kalaimamani’ by the Government of Tamilnadu. He is also the recipient of the National Award for the ‘Best Male Playback Singer’ for the song ‘Ennavale’ from the film ‘Kaadhalan’.

He has received numerous other awards from many prestigious institutions. Unnikrishnan has recorded over two hundred film songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. He is also an ‘A grade artiste’ for All India Radio. Widely traveled, he skillfully balances the two parallel musical paths of Carnatic music and light music, doing justice to both.

My father worked as a Director in an Ayurveda company and my mother was an Ayurvedic Doctor. She used to sing in her younger days. We belong to a conservative family, due to which she did not receive any encouragement to pursue music seriously. My mother initiated me into music. I used to sing light songs but never showed interest in Carnatic music. I would say, that I was drawn to it because of my friends. I started late; I gave my first public performance only at the age of twenty.

I had to make a choice between studies and music.  I used to get a lot of concert offers while I was studying, and I was finding it difficult to manage both music and studies. So I chose music.

I am a big fan of Shri Yesudas. He has inspired me a lot.

I first started learning from Shri V L Seshadhri. I learnt from him for about four to five years. Then I continued my training from Shri S Ramanathan, Savithri Satyamurthi, Calcutta Krishnamurthy and now from Shri P S Narayanaswamy. I also attended a special workshop for six months conducted by ‘Sangeetha Kalanidhi’, T Brinda and T Vishwanathan. They follow their mother Veena Dhannammal’s style of singing. I learnt some very rare Kritis, and Padams there. This workshop proved to be particularly useful to me. I learnt some small nuances, which helped my singing.

My most memorable moment was, when I received the 'Best Male Playback Singer' for my first film song ‘Ennavale’for the film ‘Kaadhalan’. It was totally unexpected and I was very happy to receive it.

Film director, Rajeev Menon is a very close family friend of ours. I had gone to his place once and he introduced me to A R Rehman, who was also there at that time. Rajeev gave him one of my cassettes and asked him to listen to it. Rehman heard it and asked me to give film songs a try. I did and rest is history.

It is tough and at the same time very challenging. People think playback singing is easy, but it is not so. It is very difficult. I have to follow the music director’s instructions, at the same time get my expressions right and bring in effective modulation in my voice. To wear the headphones and sing, is a totally different experience.

My songs are melody based. They are not based on classical music.

Yes, it gives me a lot of satisfaction. My film fans have accepted me. It is my duty to keep them happy.

Yes, plenty from all over the world.

Yes. There was a lady who wrote to me saying, her husband would hear only to western music but after listening to my music, he has become an ardent fan of me. She said, “he is totally transformed and listens only to Indian music now”.

No, I don’t think so. Both are totally different. I spend a lot of time listening to Carnatic music. I go for classes twice a week and practice everyday for two to three hours. In fact I feel my foray into playback singing has helped my classical singing. People come to my concerts. I get an audience. My classical music concerts are totally classical; I don’t sing any light songs in my concerts.

No, right now I am working on a new album that will have light songs that suits my style of singing.

I play tennis. I used to play first division cricket, but eventually stopped as playing outdoors for long hour’s affects my voice. But I do watch cricket.

I attribute my success to my parents, my wife and of course my rasikas. And the music sabhas, which gave me an opportunity to exhibit my talent in my initial days.

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