SRI – Azhahiya Thendralae ft. Shankar Mahadevan

Shyamalangan, also known as a SRI, is Sri Lankan Tamil hailing from a family of renowned musicians. He has been training in Carnatic, Western and Hindustani music from a young age, and his versatility in music reflects he is an accomplished musician. At the age of 19 he was honoured with the title “Visharadh” in Hindustani music from the Lucknow University, India.

Sri is well known in the Sri Lankan music industry for his many hits. Although he is from a revered musical family he has created a name of his own – a true reflection of a great musical nous. He started collaborating with various international artists from Dubai, Norway, Africa, Japan, Australia and India. Sri stands proud to be the 1^st Sri Lankan to have ventured into India and to have omposed a song for the Indian legend “Padma Bhushan” Asha Bhosle. Following its success, he has now collaborated with the brilliant National Award-winning singer, Shankar Mahadevan.

Here, in his own words, Sri tells us a bit more about his experiences:

ABOUT THE SONG

Every song has a story behind it. In “Azhahiya Thendralae”, I wanted to reach South India with my music and was searching for a tune that would easily relate to Tamils from India and Sri Lanka. We all have the same cultural background and we have rich folklore in our culture. That is the key element in this song.

I was happy with my melody for “Azhahiya Thendralae”, but I didn’t want it to sound like a common folk song. I did some research to make the music arrangement sound a bit different but not too varied that it would over-shadow my melody. The musical composition was challenging, but an intricate balance has been achieved in my opinion.

ON WORKING WITH SHANKAR MAHADEVAN

When it came to choosing a voice for the song; I’ve always had Shankar Mahadevan in mind. I knew his voice would do wonders for a song of such genre.

I strongly believe that I could get a voice to do miracles if the singer loves and bonds to the melody. I sent the guide track to Shankar Mahadevan and his response of loving the song was a great boost for me and I knew that this collaboration was going to be a great success.

Working with Shankar Mahadevan was real fun. He was very professional, friendly and he is such a humble person and a great entertainer. He shared his time selflessly to understand my ideas and gave me multiple options for the song. During this production we discussed many ideas, which I hope to deliver in the near future.

ON RECORDING

The recording was done in India, Dubai, Sri Lanka and Sydney. Many have contributed for this song from around the world. For the full credits, click here.

You can keep up-to-date with SRI’s music by checking out his website, Facebook or Twitter pages, and by subscribing to his YouTube channel. Check out SRI’s song "Azhahiya Thendrale" featuring vocals from Shankar Mahadevan, in the video below, with choreography by Janani Beadle & Aaron Johnson :