South Side Show 5 – Nalinakanthi Raga
By aSHANTI OMkar
Tags: andakaka konda, anniyan, ashanti omkar, blaaze, boyz, chinmayi, come around, dappankutthu, dialekt, gaana, hariharan, harini, jayam, Jesudas, Kala, kalaignan, kamal, kandukondain, kreedom, m.i.a, nalinakanthi, natchthra, raga, santhi, shruti haasan, sivaji, south side, style, tanvi, terry mardi, timbaland, tippu, vaathiyar, vallavan, yennadi muniyamma, Yesudas, yogi b
Category: Bhangra, Bollywood, Desi, Hits, Kollywood, Music, South, tamil, Tamil film music, urban
Yet another Ashanti OMkar and Terry Mardi show – early days, so I was finding my feet while Mr Mardi kept teasing me! 
Fun to do and again, we explored the different genres of music coming internationally from those of the Southern South Asian diaspora. With films like Sivaji hitting the UK charts at number 9 and queues in the cinemas so big that they removed films like Fantastic Four to accommodate the demand for fans to see Rajnikanth, the South phenomenon is certainly a rife. Certain club nights in London have been playing their Dappankutthu/Gaana/Baila portions within the DJ sets and those with Southern roots, like the Sri Lankan continue to embrace Bhangra, Urban Desi and Rock!
I met the lovely Shruti Haasan (pictured) on myspace and found her music enthralling – her debut in the UK arena was on South Side Show 5. With her Tattoo that reads her name Shruti in Tamil, a track called Tamil produced by Hollywood’s Tim Simms and her being the daughter of the great Kamal Haasan and Sarika, she is blessed with immense talent! Her songwriting skills are excellent and she is a true Rock Chick! One of my favourite Ragas, Nalinakanthi is explored via a series of film songs – Maestro Ilayaraja being the first to fuse it into an excellent Tamil film number – his uncanny knack for finding the most rare of Ragas and creating ‘lighter’ versions for the masses was always his strong point!
We also take a listen to more of M.I.A’s Tamil inspirations – I have to say that it is not surprising that her sound was embraced by the UK and US mainstream, as she truly is a child of the world – her blend of politics with art, her knack of finding street kids to play Gaana beats and her Bird flu are all quite illuminating! Further, the fact that Timbaland forgot his Tumbi and plays with Dappankutthu is quite a thrilling dance floor feat!
Listen to South Side Show 5 here
The play list:
- Tanvi, Blaaze, Rags, Suresh Peters | Style (Telugu) | Sivaji
- Sadhna Sargam | Akkam Pakkam | Kireedam
- Rosh & Dan | Sugar don’t be shy | R&D
- Santhi | Sunshower | Sunshower
- Dialekt | Superstar mixed | D.I.A.L.E.K.T
- Shruti Haasan | Covers | Shruti
- Yogi B & Natchatra | Indian Girls | Vallavan
- K J Yesudas, S. Janaki, Kamalhasan | Endhan Nenjil | Kalaingnan
- Harini | Manam Virumbuthe | Naerukku Naer
- Hariharan & Mahalaxmi | Kandukondain Kandukondain | Kandukondain Kandukondain
- Harish Raghavenda, Chinmayi | Noothana | Karka Kasadara
- Gowtham, Harini Sudhakar, Joshua Sridhar | Ingivalai Naan | Ninaithu Ninaithu Parthen
- Tippu, Gowri, Raja, Ravi | Thiruvizhannu Vandha | Jayam
- M.I.A. | Boyz | Kala
- Jassie Gift, KK, Shreya Ghosal and Sayindavi | Andakaka Konda | Anniyan
- M.I.A. featuring Timbaland | Come Around | Kala
- Karthik, Blaaze | Yennadi Muniyamma [Remix] | Vathiyar
UK & International
Raga Rendezvous – Nalinakanthi and a few with accidentals
M.I.A’s inspirations – properly sampled and credited
Gaana section
7 Responses to “South Side Show 5 – Nalinakanthi Raga”
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Does all the tracks listed here are based on Nalinakanthi Raga?
@Vijay: All the tracks in the Raga Rendezvous section are in Nalinakanthi with a few that are slightly ‘mishra’ i.e. diluted with a majority of the notes in Nalinakanthi.
Can you confirm if Manasavacha from Godavari is in Nalinakanthi ragam?
It doesn’t sound at all like Nalinakanthi to me… It seems to have a touch of Desh, Kedharam, Nattai and all sorts (I even hear notes of Vaasanthi in this song) – I’m not able to place it, but it doesn’t follow the pattern of Nalinakanthi, which is S G R M P N S; S N P M G R S – this is a lovely song though – thanks for bringing it to my attention, beautiful video too. Perhaps the music director imagined a complex Ragamalika with this…
The pallavi (1st stanza) seems to go like SSG,G,MGR GMP,P,MRR GMP,NSDPM,,,G PMGRS or something with the notes being that of C scale (Sanakarabharanam). And the ragam does seem to change in the charanams.
Is the song Akkam Pakkam from Kreedam Nalinakanthi ragam ?
Thanks!
It doesn’t sound like it at all… Nalinakanthi has a very specific pattern… Sa ga ri ma pa ni sa Sa ni pa ma ga ri sa. From Sarasangi (27).