"Ramakadha" (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

: രാമകഥാ) is a song composed by

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer an ...

as a part of the soundtrack for the 1991 Malayalam film ''

Bharatham ''Bharatham'' is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Urvashi, Nedumudi Venu, Lakshmi, and Murali. The film was produced by Mohanlal through his produc ...

''. This song, composed in

Shubhapantuvarali Shubhapantuvarali (pronounced , meaning ''the auspicious moon'') is a rāgam in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is the 45th '' melakarta'' rāgam in the 72 ''melakarta'' rāgam system of Carnatic music. It is ...

raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

, which is one of the most famous compositions in the ''raga'' in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

which had the lyrics penned by

Kaithapram Padma Shri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum K ...

. The song was sung by K. J. Yesudas. This song was picturised on

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

in the climax of the film. Yesudas won his 6th

National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer The following is a list of winners of the National Film Awards, National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Male Playback singer. The award was first granted to Mahendra Kapoor in the year 1967. The singers whose performances have won awar ...

and Raveendran won National Film Award Special Mention and

Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director The Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have b ...

for this song. In the song sequence Mohanlal portrayed the inner conflicts of his character Gopinathan, who is forced to conceal the truth of his brother's death because of their vocally disabled sister's marriage.

Style

Ramakadha is composed using the raga Shubhapantuvarali and Khadakangi. Raveendran has used

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

Mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, Thakil and

Nadaswaram The Nagaswaram (nādḥasvaram) is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. This instrument is "among the world's loudes ...

as the background instruments for the song. Apart from pulling off the most difficult

alap The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompani ...

portions with ease, Yesudas also conveys the anguish of the protagonist stuck in a terrible dilemma and guilt.

References

External links

Ramakadha Ganalayam
{{authority control Songs with music by Raveendran 1991 songs Malayalam film songs Indian songs