Dr Arundhathi, is a famous playback singer and Indian Classical vocalist. She has sung many Malayalam, Tamil as well as Telugu film songs. Her famous songs include “Ethra pookalam”, “Medaponnaniyum” and more.
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Gurus and Teachers
“Sri.Bhagavatheeshwar Iyer, my father was my first guru, the one who gave me my first lessons into the world of music. He was a great musician, music teacher and also a graded artist in the AIR (All India Radio). He used to practise his renderings at home and it was listening to those songs/krithis that I grew up. Thus, my informal classes had already begun from listening to his songs. He has also given me formal classes about music and was my guru in almost the whole of my childhood” says Arundhathi with utmost happiness and nostalgia. She has also been to classes of Sri R Krishnaswamy, Radio Station artist, and Sri. Prabhakar Varma, a famous singer himself. Prof. K Omanakutty was one among her notable Gurus/ Teachers, “Omanakutty teacher is more like a sister for me. I’ve been to her classes, performed with her and she was also my PhD guide” says Dr. Arundhathi, explaining her bond with Prof. K Omanakutty.
T R Subrahmaniam was her Guru, when she was in Chennai. It was Prof.Omanakutty, who insisted Arundhathi to get her training under T R Subrahmaniam to understand more about the technical aspects of music. It was under Sri. Subrahmaniam that Dr.Arundhathi gained her knowledge and control in “Manodharmam” (technique of spot improvisation in classical/Carnatic music), and Arundhathi still mentions T R Subrahmaniam to be one among her biggest inspirations in the musical world.
Present day Music training, when compared to the past.
When asked about the current day students of music, Dr.Arundhathi took time to share her past experience of the time when she worked in S.N. women’s college, Kollam, Kerala. She noted that” not all the students are the same, and that students have different intentions”. She points the likes of most of her students of Kollam, to be stage performers for fame and earnings. While the situation is better in Trivandrum, where students come up with genuine interests in music, Students in Chennai are exemplary; they show genuine interest as well work hard for their goals.
Entry into the film industry, as a playback singer.
“It was my friend and brother, Sri M G Radhakrishnan, who introduced me to the film industry. At first he gave me chances in the radio programs and in time, seeing the talent, he started offering me songs in different movies. Thus, one fine day, with god’s grace, “Ethra pookalam” became a hit and I’ve never had to turn back from there” explained Dr.Arundhathi.
More about Family
She is married to Mr. T S Hariharan, a retired bank officer, and has two children. Her elder daughter Charu Hariharan, has mastered mridangam as well as pshycology. She is also a Playback singer and has a band “Varldens band” based at Sweden, along with some International musicians. Her younger son Sreekanth Hariharan is a Playback singer as well as violinist.
Musical lives of Charu and Sreekanth.
Sreekanth was more of a silentboy. For the very same reasons, it was in Charu who’s talent was first found and trained. She was trained in rhythm and beats by her father from her very young age and in time she mastered Mridangam as one of her mains. She used to participate in every music programs and expressed keen interest in the field. One of the interesting situations being her class teacher, of her 10th grade, asking her to stop music for a while for the preparations of her exams and her response that she would manage her studies, but not to ask her to stop singing, stating it an inseparable part of hers. In the case of Sreekanth, it was when he auditioned in a reality show, on his own, that his talent was recognized. Even when it was found a bit late when compared to Charu, he caught up to it and achieved his goal, being a playback singer for the latest AR Rahman movie Bigil.
