Her name is synonymous with Isai Payanam, a music programme aired from three years in popular Jaya TV! She is none other than noted playback singer Charulatha Mani, one of the most predominant young Carnatic singers! Charulatha Mani is on Cloud Nine these days after her fast number ‘En Uchi Mandayile’ in Ilayathalapathi Vijay's Vettaikkaran became a huge hit among music lovers. Read excerpts from our recent interesting interview with her…

How did your musical journey begin?
I hail from a family where music is always at home. My mother Hemalatha Mani is a Veena vidushi and I grew up listening to her numerous concerts and practice sessions. From the age of 11, I started performing at kacheris and have given over 500 concerts in all major sabhas all over India and abroad. From 2002-03, I became very busy with Carnatic music and won many awards from all major sabhas in Chennai including Narada Gana Sabha and Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. My big break as a Carnatic singer came in 2006, when I started the TV programme Isai Payanam, which deals with ragas in classical as well as film music. I used to introduce a raga and present it with corresponding Carnatic songs and film songs. Later, apart from kacheris, I started Isai Payanam concerts, maintaining the same format of Isai Payanam TV show.

How did Isai Payanam format idea come to you?
Actually, as I said, in my family we are encouraged to listen to all kinds of music. Though my mother was a Carnatic musician, I grew up singing Carpenters, Abba and Mariah Carey songs and am fortunate to have a strong grounding in world music. I also loved Indian cinema music. When I started analyzing all the songs and their ragas, I realized that when people come and sit in a Carnatic concert, half of them do not really know what they are hearing. They are unable to relate to what the performer is singing. So I wanted to break the gap between the performer and the listener in the Carnatic format. Now, I speak to the audience and explain the meaning of the krithi, the bakthi bhava the composer wanted to convey. The format is really catchy and greatly improved my popularity.

Tell us about your journey as a playback singer!
It started in 2007, when I happened to meet music director Vijay Antony, one of the most talented and inspiring composers today. I debuted in film music with his ‘Kakha Kakha’ in Naan Avan Illai which went on to become a big hit. I sang quite a few film songs after that, but the biggest break in my career came with ‘En Uchi Mandayile’ in Vettaikkaran. Even for playback singers who are in the industry for 10 years, Vijay's film is a dream. When people say I sang a Vijay song so quickly, I say it's all by God's grace. For ‘En Uchi Mandayile’, I won Vijay TV's most popular entertainer award for 2009 and am waiting for another two awards: the best playback singer award from Zee TV awards and Lions Club award. Following this, I have a lot of projects this year.

Your favourite music?
The very fact that I am bridging both Carnatic and film music in Isai Payanam proves both are my favourite. I cannot say how one can exist without the other. I just derive my inspiration from Sapthaswara and move on! See, all these rules are man-made. Nature has just given us seven swaras and nada. That is music. It is there in the singing of birds and waves, we don't classify that; why should we classify music systems? Personally, I am very open-minded. I just look at the music, that's all!

Charulatha Mani is featured in G! People section of this month's Galatta Cinema Magazine. To grab your copy, click here.