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Carnatic musicians demand apology from Kamal Haasan, allege insult to Thyagaraj
Carnatic musicians have demanded apology from Kamal Haasan, alleging he passed derogatory comments against saint and composer Thyagaraj.
Actor Kamal Haasan’s recent comments about saint and composer Thyagaraj have struck a wrong chord with several Carnatic musicians. They have condemned the actor-turned-politician and demanded an apology.
Haasan had allegedly said that Thyagaraj was “begging praise of Lord Rama” during a live chat session online.
Palghat Ramprasad, a well-known vocalist, initiated the online petition seeking an apology from Haasan over his statement. The petition has been signed by more than 19,293 people including famous names from the Carnatic music industry.
In his petition, Palghat said, “This note is in reference to your recent interview with another artist from cine field in social media May 2020, where you have derogatorily mentioned about saint Sri Thyagaraja, whom the entire Carnatic music fraternity (with the exception of one or two) worships, for his divine and immense contribution to this art. We strongly condemn your reference to him ‘begging in praise of Lord Rama’. Every Carnatic musician, regardless of how they exhibit their affiliation to the outside world, deep within themselves know that they owe every bit of their basic livelihood nd professional success, to Sri Thyagaraja’s contribution to Carnatic music. In that regard, it is hard to find a parallel in any professional field as to how many thousands or millions of families’ incomes are generated owing to significant contributions of a single person to the field.”
You can watch Kamal’s live chat session here:
“The remark on him is extremely hurtful to an entire section of the society, which perhaps, you may care least about. However, we artists from the Carnatic music fraternity strongly object to the pointed reference of a holy saint whom we all revere, and demand an apology for your malignant and despicable remarks against him carried out intentionally or otherwise,” he signed off the note.
Popular carnatic singer Mahathi S also took to Facebook sharing the petition and wrote, “I am an ardent fan of Shri. Kamal Hassan’s artistic works, but his recent comment definitely irks. It is so important that an artiste of his stature ensures that he chooses the right words and presents his points clearly. Most importantly none should hurt the feelings of others and try to change them to one’s own thoughts and ideologies. Thus said nothing /none can belittle the greatest Composer Saint Thyagaraja and his works.”
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