How Prasanna keeps the audience enthralled at his solo guitar shows

Guitar Prasanna
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Chennai may be hailed as the Mecca of Carnatic Music but it is rare to hear ‘Mahaganapatim’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ in the same concert. However, ‘guitar’ Prasanna is known to take his audience on a musical exploration whenever he performs.

At his recent presentation at Medai titled ‘Electric Prasanna Land,’ he exhibited the potential of the guitar as an instrument that is complete on its own in a concert. Engaging in a lively interaction, Prasanna accommodated audience requests and improvised on the spot at times much to the delight of his fans. Keeping in mind the musical heritage of Tamil Nadu that is home to 8th century bhakti poets such as Andal and modern-day musical maestros like Ilaiyaraaja, Prasanna chose pieces that resonated with the sometimes hard-to-please Chennai music lovers.

R.D. Burman’s evergreen number from Sholay ‘Mehbooba Mehbooba’ has been extensively anthologised, remixed and recreated. It was a prudent choice by Prasanna to create a feeling of nostalgia. Some of Prasanna’s own compositions like ‘Bowling for Peace’ from his hit 2006 album Electric Ganesha Land and ‘Kalyani Connection’ from the album Be The Change, which have garnered thousands of views on YouTube and are popular even today, were played by him at the show.

As a multi-genre musician, Prasanna excels in rock, metal, jazz and Carnatic. Take for instance, the track ‘Smells like teen spirit’ by the American rock band Nirvana. Prasanna took up this piece and made the audience guess what it is, taking them along with much communication and involvement. His personal and emotional connect with music lovers adds a special touch to his performances.

Prasanna’s work with A.R. Rahman is extensive and the music composer has called him ‘a living hope for quality music’. After taking up Rahman’s ‘Dil Se’, Prasanna segued into ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ and finally landed at Led Zeppelin’s iconic ‘Black Dog’. Unexpected transitions like these added much zeal. Tamil compositions like ‘Netru illatha maatram’ and ‘July maatham vandhaal’ were also played, the latter being Prasanna’s first professional work with Rahman, where he played the original guitar portions.

Ilaiyaraaja was Prasanna’s first big musical influence and he dedicated quite some time to some of the maestro’s hit numbers like ‘Kaatril enthan geetham’ and ‘Rasathi unna’ (also a tribute to playback singer P. Jayachandran, who passed away recently). One of the best portions was an Ilaiyaraaja medley that Prasanna candidly referred to as the Vitamix blend of the evening. It included six to seven songs composed across decades. From ‘Mandram vandha’ to ‘Senorita’ to ‘Putham puthu kaalai’, it was a rollercoaster ride of emotions for Raja lovers.

Prasanna’s wife Shalini Lakshmi is a singer and accompanies him often in his performances. That evening, she rendered two Carnatic compositions with Prasanna – ‘Pullum silambina kaan’, a Thirupaavai, and ‘Jaya jaya Durge’ by Narayana Tirtha, a 17th century composer. The couple demonstrated their versatility by also taking up Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowing in the wind’ and Prasanna’s own song ‘Ode to Kubla Khan’, composed by him during his college days.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience for music lovers across age groups as the songs were diverse in terms of genre, language, and period. Keeping the audience excited throughout the concert as a solo guitarist is a rare talent and Prasanna did this with aplomb.