- Ads -
Home News Legendry  Carnatic vocalist MS’s family against award named after her to controversial...

Legendry  Carnatic vocalist MS’s family against award named after her to controversial singer TM Krishna!

Carnatic music singer and recipient of Bharat Rathna, M S Subblakshmi’s grandson V Shrinivasan is against conferring award instituted in her grandmother’s name  to controversial singer TM Krishna.

#image_title
m subbulakshmi ms

TS Venkatesan


Legendry Classical Carnatic music singer and recipient of Bharat Rathna, M S Subblakshmi’s grandson V Shrinivasan is against conferring award instituted in her grandmother’s name  to controversial singer TM Krishna.

He has filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court seeking an injunction against the Madras Music Academy from honouring controversial singer T M Krishna in the upcoming 98th music conference in Dec 2024 with the “Sangita Kalanidhi M S Subbulakshmi Award” as he had insulted the memory of the great singer over the last decade using slanderous and vitriolic language. In his petition Shrinivasan mentioned that conferring the “Subbulakshmi Award” on Krishna would be tantamount to presenting a “Bhakti” award to an atheist.

M S Subbulakshmi is indeed a national treasure of Bharat. Sarojini Naidu after hearing MS said “I surrender my title of Nightingale of India to you”. MS was the first ever singer to perform in the United Nations in 1966, the first musician to win the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1974 and the Bharat Ratna in 1998.

No one in their right minds would ever think of disrespecting this legend either directly or indirectly. Yet Krishna launched a personal attack on this immortal singer by referring to her as the ‘greatest hoax in Carnatic Music in the 20th century’ and ‘a saintly Barbie Doll.!’ Krishna further went on to slander by saying that his daughter’s generation would find MS as “sexy” and rhetorically questioned whether we would all enjoy her music if MS was dark in colour. The controversial singer went on to say that MS Amma became a legendary singer only because she “Brahamised” herself and that this was a “tragedy”

ALSO READ:  செங்கோட்டை வாஞ்சி நடுநிலைப் பள்ளியில் கலைத் திருவிழா போட்டிகள்!

After demise of MS Amma, Madras Music Academy and a leading Chennai based English daily instituted an annual award – Sangita Kalanidhi M S Subbulakshmi Award from 2005 onwards to honour the memory of the legend. However when the Music Academy announced in Mar 2024 that they would be honouring T M Krishna with the Sangita Kalanidhi M S Subbulakshmi Award it left the MS family stunned beyond disbelief.

Shrinivasan the son of Radha Viswanathan (daughter of M.S. Subbulakshmi) in his petition has mentioned that the family had never imagined that the Music Academy which was built primarily with the funds generated by MS Amma’s fund raising concerts would honour a person who was the very anti thesis of all the values that MS Amma stood for and therefore they found this decision to be paradoxical.

Krishna is well known for making scandalous and demeaning comments on leading musicians of yester years, living doyens and in this regard even the saint composer Thyagaraja has not been spared. Shrinivasan said Krishna’s statements against his grandmother were rank disgraceful and unjustifiably questioned the credibility of the renowned singer at the altar of cheap politics. He would not have dared to throw such calumny on the late singer during her lifetime. He is making these cheap and third rate canards by using MS Amma as a punching bag to gain publicity and further his hidden agenda. Critics say “he is doing all this at the behest of some sinister forces which are pulling the strings”.

MS Amma has also mentioned in her will executed (dated 03-10-1997) that there should be no foundation or memorial of any kind to perpetuate her name and memory. The award, if viewed in this perspective, is specifically against the mandate of the music legend.

ALSO READ:  ரயில்வேயில் அப்ரென்டிஸ் வேலை வேணுமா?: இன்னும் 2 நாட்கள் தான் இருக்கு!

In a counter to the petition, Music Academy denied the allegations made by Shrinivasan and said that the petitioner cannot question the authority of the selection process of the award made by the Academy which was a landmark institution in the history of fine arts. The Academy also said that for almost two decades no objections have been expressed by the applicant or any other family member of the late Ms MS Subbulakshmi . The counter affidavit also mentioned that the executive committee of the Academy decided to confer the “Sangita Kalanidhi Award on TM Krishna in recognition of his musical excellence sustained throughout his long career and for his powerful voice and adherence to tradition.

Critics say “TM Krishna shot to fame for his glorification of EV Ramaswamy Naicker.  He has been mainly into making false accusation that Brahmins, who dominate the Music field, are wilfully suppressing musicians from other communities and not giving them prominence. This is a clear lie as we have several musicians from so many other communities too”.

In protest against T M Krishna being honoured with the Sangita Kalanidhi Award this year seven musicians – vocalists Ranjani and Gayatri, Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan (aka Trichur Brothers), Harikatha exponents Dushyanth Sridhar and Vishakha Hari and mridangam Vidwan Arjun Kumar have registered their protest by refusing to be part of the Academy’s ‘Margazhi’ festival line up.   According to Raga Sisters, “Krishna has caused immense damage to Carnatic Music world by glorifying an atheist like EV Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar)”.

ALSO READ:  IND Vs NZ Test: பரபரப்பான கட்டத்தை ஏற்படுத்துவார்களா இந்திய பேட்டர்கள்!

Harikatha exponent Dushyanth Sridhar told Organiser ” MS Subbulakshmi is a veteran in the field of Classical Carnatic musi, which is known as Sashtriya Sangeetham. She ruled the minds and hearts of listeners of bakthi music. There would not be single morning in a south Indian households with her rendition of Venkatesa Subrapatham, Baja govindam, Vishnu Sahastranam, Kanagadara Strothram were not heard.  Besides rendering such devotional compositions she also was big propagator of compositions of Saint Tyagaraja, Annamacharya, Purandradasa, Muthuswami Dikshedar, Arunachal Kavi and so and so forth. Her depiction of Meera in the movie and subsequently her rendition of Bajans only amplified the Bakthi Koshams in Music.

It is very disheartening to note that other Carnatic Musician T M Krishna did not have charitable words either towards her contribution or towards upbringing. some of his words on MS Subbulakshmi were not taken in a easy way by many many rasikas (fans). it does not surprise me when I look at the legal case that was filed by Mr Shrinivasan who comes from the lineage of MS Subbulakshmi, Like how rasikas were hurt by the remarks of TM krishna over the years on MS Subbulakshmi , it is obvious that  family members  would have been equally hurt. 

Since there is a case filed against the decision of Music Academy giving away the award that has MS Subbulakshmi’s name to TM Krishna , I would not like comment further. But, in general making remarks against such tall personalities should have been avoided”.  

T.S. Venkatesan TSV

NO COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Exit mobile version