Music fraternity on the boil

When the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi awards for 2015 were announced, the news coverage nearly went unnoticed. But soon there were murmurs of discontent in the field of music and the first to voice his outrage was musician Palakkad Sreeram who posted a scathing attack in his social media page against Soorya Krishnamoorthy, the chairman of the Akademi.

He expressed his disapproval of the list of awardees and decried the lack of transparency in the selection process. “It is more suitable to call the award ‘Soorya Krishnamoorthy Sevaka Award’ rather than Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award,” wrote Sreeram. “Awards are now being made only for those who serve the ones giving the award.”

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, he adds: “This is not an award given by some private channel but one given away by the State to musicians who have contributed something substantial in the field of dance or music. If we look at the current list, we can see names of artistes who are still working with Soorya Krishnamoorthy. Most of them are juniors and have not contributed anything outside of Krishnamoorthy’s team.” Sreeram says he is not surprised that not many in the cultural arena have come forward to criticise the choice of awards. “Most of them are either working for Soorya Krishnamoorthy or dependant on him.”

Harmonium expert Prakash Ulliyeri agrees with Sreeram. Prakash, who had previously worked with Soorya Krishnamoorthy, says he had applied for this year’s award but in vain. “I want to know if the Minister of Culture was aware of the list and whether he approved it. Unfortunately, a whole lot of undeserving people won awards this year,” he says.

When contacted, Soorya Krishnamoorthy insists that every effort was made to make the Awards as transparent as possible. “After every such award, someone is bound to come up with some allegation. But I can say with confidence that there was no foul play in the selection. We have introduced a system where artistes can send an application for the award or some other artiste can recommend another deserving artiste’s name. The selected list is finalised by an expert committee and executive committee before it is announced.”

He goes on to claim that the award for sound engineer, bagged by Pradeep Thalayil, which many in the industry are miffed about, was awarded after recommendations from Yesudas, Shankar Mahadevan and Stephen Devassy.

“Certain technicians or artistes may have worked with me but that does not mean that they work only with me but for others as well. As for seniority, I believe we should encourage younger artistes as well. Besides, they are also very good at what they do.”

When asked about not considering Prakash Ulliyeri, he has this to say, “Prakash deserves the award, but his submission was late. Besides, he gave it to me whereas he should have submitted it in the office. Moreover, it is not necessary that the award should be given the same year, as there is a pending list of artistes.”

Thavil exponent Karunamurthy, who had received the award in 2009, points out, “It surprised me that the award for thavil was given to an artiste called Malamary Sasi, who is not even associated with thavil. He is a drummer with Soorya Krishnamoorthy. A move like this was not expected from such a respectable person as Soorya Krishnamoorthy.”

Chenda maestro Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar, one of the senior most musicians in the country, says he was shocked to see this year’s award list. Demanding an inquiry into the whole episode, he lashes out: “I know there is no point in me being disappointed, nothing is going to change. The method followed by the Akademi where an artiste has to send an application for an award itself is plain wrong. The other method where an artiste can recommend another’s name is even more absurd. It is unbelievable that Yesudas or Shankar Mahadevan would have made recommendations. If these winners were selected by an expert committee, then I think it is time to change that committee itself.”

Agreeing with him is Manoj K. Varghese, founder-director of event management group India Elements. “No one is clear about the criteria of these awards. The official website is silent about how to apply for these awards and the norms for selection.”
 

 

 

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