The entrance of Taj Coramandal ball room prepares you for the unique experience. A ticket counter that reminds you a suburban theatre of seventies invites you. You enter into the counter as if you want to get a ticket. When you come out of the counter, you have many cut outs and posters of various films from the past starring at you.
The black and white images showing the stars of yesteryears like MGR and Sivaji slowly change into colourful visuals as you proceed. Then you get into the hall where you see a lot of fans and film personalities waiting for the event to start.
It is a perfect prelude for a movie that deals with a matinee idol. Prakash Raj's Duet Movies, along with Moser Baer and Mirchi Movies, is all set to enthrall the fans with its latest offering 'Vellitherai', a remake of Mohanlal starrer 'Udayananu Tharam'. The audio release of the movie starring Prakash Raj, Prithvi Raj, and Lakshmi Rai was held as a Musica Festival on December 18.
The function felicitated Mellisai Mannargal (Melody Kings) M.S. Viswanathan and T.K. Ramamoorthy as a tribute to their marvelous contribution to film music.
The tribute was made in three different ways. First an Audio-Visual presentation was screened as a reminiscence of their immortal songs. Then a set of children sung a few songs composed by these masters. The children, trained by Subhasree Thanigachalam, were outstanding in their rendition. Particularly Saranya, who sang L.R. Easwari's 'Pattathu Rani' was quite amazing.
The third part of the tribute came in the form of speeches by film personalities recalling the exceptional contribution of the duo. P.B. Srinivas, S.P. Balasubramaniam, Vairamuthu, Vidyasagar, G.V. Prakashkumar were among those who shared their experiences with the masters and their melody. SPB enthralled the audiences with his rendition of a few songs from the past.
The audio launch function also marked the launch of Duet Music, a new outfit of Prakash Raj. The versatile actor cum producer revealed that his music company would try and bring the various genres of music to the people without depending on cinema alone.
Mani Rathnam, Prithvi Raj, Dhananjayan (Moser Baer), and Munish Puri (Mirchi Movies) delivered a few words on the occasion. Dhananjayan and Mushish Puri explained their plans in Tamil film industry.
The Mellisai Mannargal MSV and TKR went emotional in their speeches for this kind of touching tribute given to them.
Mohanlal, the hero of the original film 'Udayananu Tharam' rendered a few words expressing his faith and hopes on the project.
The whole function was a pleasant nostalgia of the yesteryears' music and the memorable contribution of the amazing duo. By the time the function ended, it was reaching ten but nobody was in a mood to leave the hall. No. it was not because of the fabulous dinner. The immortal tunes kept on lingering in the minds of those who attended the function for quite a long time.
Kudos to Prakash Raj and his team for arranging such a rare feast. A fitting launch for a music track and a music company indeed.