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The south Indian style of Aishwarya Rai's wedding
07th May 2007 09.01 IST
By Agencies

The recent wedding of the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai to Abhishek Bachchan had its share of south Indian dose.

For example, the shehnai was replaced by the nadaswaram at the wedding, with a four-member team of musicians from Chennai playing traditional tunes with a south Indian flavour selected by Ash – the bride.

The team was informed it would have to play at a marriage in Mumbai, but was kept in the dark till almost the last minute whose wedding it would be performing at.

When the team comprising Mylai P Muruganandam, Mylai S Mohanraj, P C Rajarathinam and RM Dakshinamoorthy learnt it would be playing at the nuptials of Abhishek and Ash on April 20, it was a sweet surprise for them.

The nadaswaram is a wind instrument played in south India during auspicious occasions and the suggestion that it should replace the shehnai, associated with north Indian weddings, came from none other than the bride.

"It was not till two days before the marriage that we knew we were going to play the nadaswaram and thavil," said lead musician Muruganandam.

He said it still had not sunk in for him that he had performed at the high-profile but private event that was extensively covered by the media.

Muruganandam said his team was chosen thanks to Mylapore Balavinayagar and singer Kalyani Menon. "We play regularly at a temple and that is how she came to know of us and called us for an audition, where we managed to impress her," he said.

The team's "Thodi Ragam" did the trick and landed them at the Bachchan residence Pratheeksha in Mumbai.

Ash had heard the "Mangala Vathiyam" in a south Indian wedding and desired the same music to be played when she tied the knot with her beau.

At least, that is what Muruganandam and Mohanraj believe. "We were informed that it was she who wanted a south Indian flavour to her marriage," Mohanraj said.

And when the big moment came, the music took control. "We played for about one-and-half hours and started off with the customary 'Vathapi Ganapathy'," Muruganandam said.

This was followed by "Ra Ra", a composition by Saint Thyagaraja, and tunes like "Nagumo Keerthanai".

When the couple tied the nuptial knot, the team played "Anandam Anandam Anandamae" (Happiness All Around).

Significantly, the entire ceremony had a south Indian flavour, according to the musicians. "They even had the `Oonjal' (swing) ceremony," Mohanraj said.

And who was invited to the wedding and who wasn't? Most people have fair knowledge about the guest list thanks to the uninterrupted media coverage.

"However, filmmaker Mani Ratnam was the lone personality from the Tamil film industry," Muruganandam said. May be this was due to the couple's 'bhakti' (devotion) for Abhishek's appearance in Ratnam's hit film Guru .

The musicians too received their share of bouquets. "Mani Ratnam lauded our 'Seethakalyana' and Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan was impressed with our overall show," Muruganandam said.

Another high point was when cricketer Sachin Tendulkar posed for a photograph with Muruganandam and Mohanraj.

Kalyani Menon, instrumental in taking the team to Mumbai, attributed everything to the "greatness of Amitabh Bachchan".

"The Bachchans have great respect for good art and artists and that made the four musicians play at the wedding," she said.

Kalyani, the mother of noted cinematographer Rajiv Menon of "Guru" and "Bombay" fame, too sang a few numbers at the wedding, including "Seethakalyana" and some shlokas from the Bhagavathi Mahatmam Upanishads.

And as the musicians took their leave, an acquaintance asked them: "So, which is the next big wedding?"

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