Song: Anjali Anjali Pushpanjali
Film: Duet
Composer: A R Rahman
Singer(s): S P Balasubramaniam/K S Chitra
I said last week I would want to do a SPB-Rahman song and here it is. One of the most famous ones of their collaboration.
I did only up to the first charanam as it’s a duet.
EDIT: It’s finally up!
Pictured life 
June 10, 2021 at 3:09 pm |
I think the link you posted isn’t working. I couldn’t find it on the YouTube channel either? Are you doing a re-upload?
June 10, 2021 at 3:15 pm |
Thanks and yes, there will be a reupload somewhere in the next couple of days. I made the mistake of uploading without running it through mom and she pointed out pronunciation mistakes so I am re-doing it.
June 10, 2021 at 5:31 pm
Ah I see. I’m curious, would you consider doing a cover of Theendai Mei Theendai from En Swasa Kaatre. I think it would sound interesting in your voice.
June 11, 2021 at 3:53 am |
I am open to that idea. Let me listen to it a few times and I will give it a go. I don’t even remember the song anymore. Or maybe I can’t associate it based off the words but I would probably remember it immediately if I heard the tune.
June 14, 2021 at 7:19 am |
A little update. Both the Anjali and Theendai covers are unexpectedly delayed.
You may recall my writing about my struggles with long covid in BR’s blog. So…it has still not gone away and upon consulting a chest specialist for an opinion, he has suggested there may be a obstruction in the air flow and prescribed treatment for it. So, during that period, I am playing safe and not singing anything. Let’s take it from there.
In the meantime, I have something that may or may not interest you…
And if it does, well, there’s some more to come.
June 15, 2021 at 4:40 am
Covid really is no joke. I wish you a speedy recovery.
June 15, 2021 at 6:27 am |
Thanks man. Certainly isn’t. At this point, I have stopped hoping for a quick recovery. I am just going to deal with this for however long it takes. I learn now that there have always been people who dealt with lingering infections/illnesses taking way too long to get completely cured. I just never experienced it before. And because covid is a pandemic that’s infected so many people, suddenly we have a bigger sample size of people like me dealing with it long after the initial infection was treated and cured.
July 24, 2021 at 11:21 am |
The cover is finally up. I couldn’t quite get on top of the pronunciation issues so here’s the best I could, FWIW.
July 24, 2021 at 7:27 pm
I liked it. More than pronunciation issues, I was anticipating how you would pull off the high G (G4 I think?) at “Anjali Anjali En Uyir Kaadhali”. You did that pretty decently I’d say.
How do you get those kind of notes btw? When I try and sing along to this, I either go full falsetto or it’s really weak.
July 25, 2021 at 1:57 am |
Thanks. The G4 or whatever that note is is pretty easy for me. I could have hit it much harder but I reined in the note and pushed the mic away just so it remains melodic.
As to how I do it, I would say raising the soft palate and using the space above your nose and below the top of your head is the key to hitting high notes. Learning to get in there is not easy unless you can do it naturally. For me, I wasted 10 years of trial and error until by chance I found that the Broadway legend Linda Eder was offering voice lessons during lockdown and signed up for one. She taught me more in that one lesson than I had learnt in bits and pieces from tutorial videos and from asking singer friends.
June 17, 2021 at 8:06 pm |
Hi Madan,
I was browsing your blog (after a long time) when I saw Anjali (a song I had grown up with) and was super excited to check out your spin on it. When I saw that the video was missing, I came to the comments to see what had happened. I am so sorry that you are still struggling with Long Covid. While I am heartened to hear that you are getting treatment from a chest specialist, I also do hope that you are getting the support that you need at home as well while you’re on this road to eventual recovery.
June 18, 2021 at 5:16 am |
Thanks Yajiv. Long covid, at least for me, is like a nagging itch. I am not super, super ill but I am not getting alright either. I am stuck in no man’s land since the last three months. Hopefully this new course of treatment is the one that sets things right.
In the meantime, you can enjoy the Shreya Ghoshal clip I have posted above in my reply to anonymousviolin20.
July 24, 2021 at 11:21 am |
Video is up now.
July 22, 2021 at 9:13 pm |
I listened to Mil Gayi, a re working of Anjali Anjali for “Kabhi Na Kabhi”, and I was surprised that Rahman used Kumar Sanu’s voice for the tune. Seemed like a misfit, especially compared to SPB.
Who do you think besides SPB could pull off this song? My vote is Hariharan, based on Nahin Samne.
July 23, 2021 at 4:01 am |
I haven’t heard Mil Gayi before. I am pleasantly surprised by Kumar Sanu’s vocals actually. It’s not bad, he managed to find a groove in this song. Actually what is most off colour for me is the arrangements that never come together. It’s like you can tell Rahman is adding on a new arrangement for a tune composed long back and it doesn’t fit seamlessly. The picturisation too is bizarre.
Regarding who else could pull off this song – other than Hari, would also nominate Srinivas. He generally sings SPB well as it is.