(c) Ashanti OMkar

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:

1. Tanvi, Blaaze, Rags, Suresh Peters | Style (Telugu) | Sivaji
2. Sadhna Sargam | Akkam Pakkam | Kireedam



UK & International




3. Rosh & Dan | Sugar don’t be shy | R&D
4. Santhi | Sunshower | Sunshower
5. Dialekt | Superstar mixed | D.I.A.L.E.K.T
6. Shruti Haasan | Covers | Shruti
7. Yogi B & Natchatra | Indian Girls | Vallavan



Raga Rendezvous – Nalinakanthi and a few with accidentals




8. K J Yesudas, S. Janaki, Kamalhasan | Endhan Nenjil | Kalaingnan
9. Harini | Manam Virumbuthe | Naerukku Naer
10. Hariharan & Mahalaxmi | Kandukondain Kandukondain | Kandukondain Kandukondain
11. Harish Raghavenda, Chinmayi | Noothana | Karka Kasadara
12. Gowtham, Harini Sudhakar, Joshua Sridhar | Ingivalai Naan | Ninaithu Ninaithu Parthen



M.I.A’s inspirations – properly sampled and credited

13. Tippu, Gowri, Raja, Ravi | Thiruvizhannu Vandha | Jayam
14. M.I.A. | Boyz | Kala
15. Jassie Gift, KK, Shreya Ghosal and Sayindavi | Andakaka Konda | Anniyan
16. M.I.A. featuring Timbaland | Come Around | Kala



Gaana section

17. Karthik, Blaaze | Yennadi Muniyamma [Remix] | Vathiyar

(c) Ashanti OMkar | Pic: Aworan Akin Pixgremlin

This is the show that ‘In a deep trance’ blogged about!

Basically, I had M.I.A’s critically acclaimed Kala album sent to me from her record label and I found a lot of Southern influences and samples in it, unlike in Arular. She used sounds like the Nadhaswaram, Dappankutthu beats, Old Ilayaraja e.t.c. Part of this show was to highlight those bits, while also showing off the beautiful Raga Charukesi in all it’s filmy glory! Here is an interview I did with M.I.A after Arular was released to much pomp and circumstance – Lovely girl!

You can hear South Side 4 via this link

Here is the play list:

1. Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam | Ragasiya Kanavugal |Bheema
2. Haricharan, Krish, Shruthi | Mayavi Neeya | Sivi
3. Vijay Yesudas | Valaiyal Karangalai | Thottal Poo Malarum
4. The Leano | Smile | The Leano
6. Baba Rap | Blaaze | Baba
7. Sujeeth G, Tishanthan | Tooting pakkam | Ceylon

Raga rendezvous in Charukesi

8. TM Soundararajan | Vasantha Mullai Pole | Sarangatharaa
9. KJ Yesudas | Aadal Kalaiye | Sri Ragevendra
10. SP Balasubramaniam | Kaadalin deepam onru | Thambikku Endha Ooru
11. Jayachandran, P.Suseela | Mayanginen | Naane raja naane manthiri
12. S Janaki | Thoodhu Selvadharadi | Singaravelan
13. Karthik, Gopika Poornima | Edho edho | Ennaku 20 Unakku 18
14. Amal Raj, Reshmi, Sadhana Sargam | Thaiyaththaa | Thiruttu Payale

What was the original track that was sampled? – hear them both on this show!

15. S Janaki, Malaysia Vasudevan | Unakkum | Sri Raghavendra
16. Black Eyed Peas | The Elephunk Theme | Elephunk (early edition)
17. K.J.Yesudas , SP. Balasubramaniam | Kaattukuyile | Thalapathy
18. M.I.A | Bamboo banga | Kala

Gaana section

19. Shankar Mahadevan | Vaadi vaadi | Alli Thandha Vaanam
20. Kay Kay, Yugendran, Srileka | Kalyanam thaan | Saamy

(c) Ashanti OMkar

(c) Ashanti OMkar

So, the pilot was approved, and I began to work out how to make segments and stuff – as we’re always evolving, the names e.t.c. have changed over time, as the first few shows came under South Side – Tamil Tuesdays and then Southern Sundays! I also created a Facebook group for it:

South Side Facebook group

You can hear the show via this link

Here is an original play list that I created for show 3 before it went into the DH formatted spreadsheet!

South Side 3 Playlist
_____________________________

TAMIL FILM MUSIC segment

SIVAJI THE BOSS – A.R.Rahman
Stars: Rajinikanth, Shreya Saran, Suman, Prakash Raj, Revathi Menon, Vivek
Sahaana Saaral Thoorutho
Udit Narayanan, Chinmayi

KREEDOM – GV. Prakash
Stars: Ajith, Trisha, Raj Kiran, Vivek
Vizhiyil Vizhiyil
Sonu Nigam, Swetha

BOMMALATTAM – Himesh Reshammiya
CAST: Nana Patekar, Arjun, Kajal Agarwal
LABEL: INSIGHT MEDIA
Oh Nengil Dola
Artist(s): Anuradha Sriram, Tippu
Lyricist: Thenmozhidoss

Chennai 600028 – Yuvan Shankar Raja
CAST: Mirchi Siva, Arvind Akash, Ajay, Prem Gi Amaren
LABEL: FIVE STAR
Un Parvai
Artist(s): Vijay Yesudas
Lyricist: Vaali

DIASPORA – Veliyoor Segment

Instant message by QWILITE – Ranjini

Tamil produced by Tim Simms – Shruti Haasan

RAGA Explosion – Reethigowla SEGMENT

Thambi – Vidyasagar
Sudum Nilavu
Unni Krishnan, Harini

Mudhalvan – ARR
Azhagana Ratchasiye – ARR
SPB & Harini

Poonthottam – Ilayaraja
Meetha Oru Veenai
Hariharan, Mahalakshmi Iyer

Sippikul Muthu – Ilayaraja
Raman Kathai
SPB

Oru Odai Nadhiyaagirathu – Ilayaraja
Thalaiyai Kuniyum
SPB, Uma Ramanan

Kavikkuyil – Ilayaraja
Chinna Kannan
S Janaki – also a version by Balamurali Krishna

DANCE – Koothu segment

Anniyan – Harris Jeyaraj
Andankakka
Jassie Gift, KK, Shreya Ghosal and Sayindavi

Gemini – Bharathwaj
Oh podu (Gemini Gemini)
Anuradha Sriram

Run – Vidyasagar
Theradi Veethiyil Thevatha
Karthik, Manikkam Vinayagam, Timmy

OUTRO – Slow Jam

TAJ MAHAL Anthem by ARR – Part of New 7 Wold Wonders

(c) Ashanti OMkar

(c) Ashanti OMkar

Creating the show took a lot of research, as it’s a one of a kind show. I caught up on a ton of Tamil movies, reached out to a load of artistes – as I’m already a journalist and that too specialising in music, a lot of them were already on my radar… I then wanted the pilot show to showcase a lot of Tamil movie music – particularly the ones that have made waves internationally. Terry Mardi, my co-host was clueless about the South, so it was all about educating him and reaching out to the listeners.

We didn’t conceive any of the show sections like Letter of the day and Raga rendezvous till the pilot was approved. We also went for the most popular South language in the world which is Tamil, although, Telugu is the most spoken, but Tamil is very much diasporic and international – there are Tamils in places like South America, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Europe and worldwide, really. The show targets the 1/2 Billion Southern South Asians around the world! We had my myspace photo which turns from picture (taken by Aworan) to Cartoon (Done by Kazuha) and the Desi Hits team created the appropriate artwork.

Listen to the shows here – Part 1
Listen to the shows here – Part 2

Here is the 1st ever play list:

1. Style (Oru koodai sunrise) | Blaaze, Tanvi, Rags, Suresh Peters | Sivaji, AR Rahman
2. Oruvan Oruvan Mudhalali | SP Balasubramaniam | Muthu, AR Rahman
3. Baba kicchu kicchu | SP Balasubramaniam, Reena Bhardwaj | Baba
4. Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu | SP Balasubramaniam and Swarnalatha | Thalapathi, Ilayaraja
5. Tippu Tippu | Shankar Mahadevan | Baba, AR Rahman
6. Baba Rap | Blaaze | Baba
7. Arabhi Kadal Oram (Humma) | AR Rahman | Bombay, AR Rahman
8. Konjum Nilavu | Anupama | Thiruda Thiruda, AR Rahman
9. Mayilirage | Naresh Iyer, Madhushree | Ah Aah (Anbe Aaruyire), AR Rahman
10. Pettai Rap | Suresh Peters, Kujaramma, Shahul Hameed | Kadhalan, AR Rahman
11. Signore Signore | Raafique, Noel, Anupama, Swarnalatha | Kannathil Muthamittal, AR Rahman
12. No Problem | Apache Indian, AR Rahman | Lovebirds, AR Rahman
13. Shakalaka baby | Vasundara Das | Mudhalvan, AR Rahman
14. Thayya Thayya | Sukhwinder Singh, Shubha | Uyire, AR Rahman
15. Ouppu karuvadu | Shankar Mahadevan, Kavitha Krishnamoorthy | Mudhalvan, AR Rahman
16. Aaruyire | AR Rahman, Chinmayi | Guru, AR Rahman
17. Kandukondain Kandukondain | Hariharan, Mahalakshmi Iyer | Kandukondain Kandukondain, AR Rahman
18. Bombay theme tune | Naveen on flute; AR Rahman conducts orchestra | Bombay, AR Rahman

I had a lot of flashback memories while creating this episode, as I reminisced the day Aworan and I were in Chennai at Panchathan, AR Rahman’s old studio (doing a shoot with AR and Saira, his lovely wife) and Aworan requested for AR to play the Bombay theme tune as he’s seen it in Lord of war and loved it. AR played it without hesitation and it was truly beautiful – we both experienced shivers of delight.

Ilayaraja – this man is a quiet genius – he lives in the most beautiful mansion in T Nagar, Chennai and beholds a very talented family too. Dressed in white, my memories of him are of his singing ‘Janani Janani’ from Thaai Moogambigai to his grandson, Yatheeshwar (son of Karthik Raja) and that he is a man of few words – I guess all that quiet comes out in his music and for show 1, I picked what I felt is one of his most famous songs, from Thalapathy!

The Kandukondain song brings back a lot of memories for me, as I spent a week with Rajiv Menon (The director of the film and also the amazing cinematographer of Mani Ratnam’s Guru and Bombay), Ravi K Chandran (Black, Hindi version of Ghajini, Saawariya, Paheli, Fanaa, Yuvam Boys, Koi… Mil Gaya, Dil Chahta Hai, Kannathil Muthamittal) and his then assistant, S. Ravi Verman (cinematograher of Dasavatharam, Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu, Anniyan) in Dornie village, Scotland. We all had a blast and they show the beautiful title song with Abbas and choreographer, Rekha Chinni Prakash! We even shopped at M&S with Ash (when she landed from Budapest after shooting for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and on her way to shoot for Taal) and shared an anchovy pizza, lots of curry and fish and chips!

SP Balasubramaniam, well, what can I say about this humble genius – he’s a gem of a man and is a legend in his own right – his work speaks for itself. I remember my first meeting with him was on a flight from Chennai to Bangalore – first class, of course. I then met him and his family at Venkat Prabhu’s wedding in Chennai and in Toronto after that!

Shankar Mahadevan – again, magnificent voice – the man has not changed over the years and he is definitely hitting legendary status! His work with the trio, Shankar Ehsaan Loy has taken Bollywood by storm. I remember hanging out with his family in London and having such fun!

Hariharan – another legend with a voice to match – smooth, mellifluous and a very cool guy – he’s another person I’ve met indifferent continents – from London to Chennai to America – his family are also very cool and so easy going!

Blaaze – the most chilled out dude you will EVER meet – this guy is on another plane – again, a family man with an amazing family to boot, I’ve met him also in 3 continents – UK, USA and India!

Noel James, whose voice features in Signore is someone I meet when I visit Chennai, but he also came to London when ARR toured in 2005. Cool guy, he looks after AR’s office stuff!

Mahalakshmi Iyer – a lovely lady who I met in London and spoke to when I was in India – she’s got a stunning voice indeed!

Madhushree – again, a lovely lady who I met during the ARR tour in UK, in Birmingham and London, in 2005.

Naresh Iyer – what can I say, he’s a very very cool dude! Talented, humble and great to hang out with!

Chinmayi – super talented, smooth voiced, hard-working young lady. I remember interviewing her in 2003 for Veena Maagzine – what can I say, every day, I see her grow as a singer and her popularity soars!

Vasundara Das – sharing a drink at her apartment in Mumbai was a treat, meeting her in London was illuminating and the NYC lift at Nassau Colosseum was certainly fun! She’s a singer with the most beautiful, mesmerising eyes and the sweetest nature!

Apache Indian – my first every interviewee! He put me at ease and we even chatted at length about AR Rahman, No problem and Lovebirds – a lovely guy, again with a fabolous family!

Sukhwinder Singh – I remember briefly meeting him backstage in NYC and speaking to him on the phone for an interview a few years ago! Very very cool guy!

Kavitha Krishnamurthy Subramaniam – now she can safely be described as ‘cute’ – her spoken voice is as silky as her singing voice and she wears the most amazing sari! I missed her in Bangalore at her home, but I know I’ll meet her again very soon! Her hubby L Sunramaniam is a violin virtuoso who has played with the best of the best in the West!

Suresh Peters – Chinmayi took me to his studio during my 3 months in India in 2005/06 – very cool guy!

Anupama – I met her at Rajiv Menon’s Chennai studio when Srinivas and co were recording Ussele ussele! Lovely lass with an amazing voice!

Tanvi – I’ve bumped into her backstage at AR’s shows in UK, US, Chennai – she seems very nice and I hear good things about her – listen out for her track in Venkat Prabhu’s Saroja!

Here is how Venture Beat succinctly puts it, although, now, the site as a whole gets around 15 Million hits from 68 countries with dual headquarters in New York City and London:

Desi Hits, a company that delivers online entertainment in South Asia featuring celebrity interviews, music videos, podcasts and blogs, said it has raised $5 million in its second round of financing, from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Trident Capital and D.E. Shaw Group.

The two-year-old company is based in San Francisco, but targets the South Asian (India) or “Desi” youth culture, and says it has more than 10 million hits per month.

“In one short year we have also seen the West’s interest in South Asia skyrocket,” said the company’s CEO Anjula Acharia-Bath in a press release. “We are opening doors to Western acts that want to enter the huge Indian market in an authentic way.”

The company recently featured a podcast with rap superstar 50 Cent prior to his concert in Mumbai.

Here are some business oriented sites that will tell you more…

Business Week
DMW Media
Reuters
Content Sutra
Venture Beat
Biz Origin
UK’s Ethnic Now
Bibi Magazine on Desi Hits CEO

This is how it used to be, when it was simply a blog site that did amateur podcasts – now, everything is expertly produced and the sound quality, I’m told, is fantastic! Of course, I agree with that! Also, all the presenters are pretty much experts in their own fields of music, which makes it really worth listening to! Uncensored and real, that’s the ethos!

The old Desi Hits blog

An interview I gave about South Side to Sunday Times, Sri Lanka