Balabhaskar,
composer and violinist who has created a place in the world of music,
has composed more than a dozen albums and music scores for three Malayalam
movies, 'Mangalyapallakku,' `Kannadikkadavathu' and 'Moksham' To Balabhaskar,
plain music is easier created than scores for lyrics, he admits. He
has also tentatively bid bye to singing as he feels there are others
better equipped to do the same. He concentrates mostly on composing
music for his shows and albums. Among his numerous albums, `Ninakkai'
and 'Adyamai' have been huge hits.
Balabhaskar finds classical violin solo concerts the most
satisfying though, besides fusion. He is being compared to Dr. L. Subramanium,
with his prowess on the violin.
So, what is his concept of music? "Anything good to
listen to, including silences. There is an innate rhythm in everything
and the responsibility is on the composer to position them in a certain
fashion. It takes a large heart to locate beauty in everything,"
he professes.
Balabhaskar
started with the violin when he was four years old and his
uncle was instrumental in awakening the musician in
him. His uncle, B. Sasikumar,
virtually pulled him out of bed every morning, and put a violin in his
tiny hands. "It was ‘gurukula’ training, and my uncle did not teach
violin in the conventional way. He would play some notes and expect
me to do the same. It was like being thrown into the lion's den and
one simply had to manage. The violin became a part of me from a very
young age and I think I can express myself best on the violin."
he says.
Balabhaskar
was able to understand the krithis (compositions) better because he
did his Masters in Sanskrit. He wanted to carve out something fresh
and in a fit of revolutionary zeal, formed the band `Confusion' while
still at college. The group disintegrated when ideologies clashed. `Confusion'
gave way to something `big' just a year ago. His new band `The Big Indian
Band' focuses on fusion music and consists of top artistes in the field.
So there you have a young band, with seven musicians, gelling into a
kind of universal music, sans man made barriers like language. They
have similar ideals and thinking and hope to go on, producing better
and better music, hopes Balabhaskar and the other members of the Big
Indian Band.
Balabhaskar says, "Generally, fusion music
is mistaken for mixing up of different genres, such as classical, folk
and light music. If at all you love music without compartmentalization,
what comes from within would have the quintessence of various types.
If we appreciated the music in `The Titanic' that was because there
were certain elements of our culture in it. Fusion is not the superficial
mixing of various styles of music; it is the merging of cultures that
each musical style seeks to give expression to," he maintains.
Balabhaskar was one of the judges for the talent show called ‘Super Star’ in a popular
Malayalam TV channel, the others being music composers Deepak Dev and
Alphons. He
is married and his wife's name is Lakshmi.
