What is Sikkil Gurucharan’s ‘Jannal Oram’? From Ilaiyaraaja and Kamal Haasan to ‘Interstellar’

Sikkil Gurucharan has been spending a lot of time by his window. When he’s not humming Carnatic riffs, he is mulling over the latest Tamil film song and the usage of classical elements in it.

The popular classical vocalist has been putting together these thoughts in a video series titled Jannal Oram (By The Window). Seeing the patronage it received online since its premiere in June 2022, Gurucharan also subsequently planned live events around the concept.

This Saturday at Chennai’s RR Sabha, Jannal Oram gets a live platform.

“It started off as a lockdown activity when we had no concerts and all we could do was reminisce and collect different musical ideas,” recalls Gurucharan, about the inception of the concept, “It is a celebration of life, through a Carnatic music lens. Sometimes, people find this form of music to be one filled with rules and rigidity. Every music student starts out with such conditioning, but as we grow up, we realise that everything is connected to Carnatic music in some way, be it films or comedy sequences or life itself. A microphone thrust upon those experiences is what my Jannal Oram is all about.”

Among the most popular segments of the series is ‘Classicism: Extended’, in which Gurucharan analyses the heavy classical foundations in film music. In this, he frequently explores the work of composer Ilaiyaraaja and the vision of actor Kamal Haasan, both of whom he is a big fan of. “Take Guna and Mahanadhi, two films that initially did not give me a happy feeling,” he admits, “My parents didn’t take me to these films as it made them sad. But now, those two films – and soundtrack – have aged so well.”

Carnatic vocalist Sikkil Gurucharan on his ‘Jannal Oram’ series
| Photo Credit:
shivaraj s

Gurucharan points out to a particular scene in Mahanadi when Kamal Haasan starts a chit fund company, where Thyagaraja’s ‘Nidhi Chala Sukhama’ is playing in the background. “The original intention of Thyagaraja composing that song was to explain why money is not important. That the makers felt to use that particular song in this juncture… it hits different as a Carnatic music performer,” he explains.

Ilaiyaraaja’s exploration of ragas in various facets is a key aspect of Gurucharan’s musings. But that’s not all; he also looks for a link in international music too, part of which includes a Carnatic re-telling of Interstellar as a tribute to Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer. “There are many complex elements in the film, but the music has a fundamental structure. There is a such a contrast between the scale of a sequence and the simplicity of the music that plays. Like, the ‘Cornfield Chase’ in Interstellar, which is essentially ‘sa pa, ri pa, ga pa, ma pa,’ an exercise which even a child taking Carnatic music classes learns. But from that, to take it in different speeds and using organs were mind-blowing discoveries to me.”

He will delve in detail on all these aspects and more in Jannal Oram. “If you equate a Carnatic concert to a film, Jannal Oram is the behind-the-scenes. There are certain things I won’t be able to do in a Carnatic concert due to the format, but in Jannal Oram, I create the structure.”

Gurucharan is known as a classical vocalist, but listeners might not be aware that he did sing some backing tracks for film music composers Vidyasagar and Harris Jayaraj. “I also sung a track for Ilaiyaraaja sir in 2006 for a private album that never released. It’s unfortunate. But I’ve always been open to sing for films.” He has also acted in a couple of Tamil films – in director Rajiv Menon’s Sarvam Thala Mayamand his anthology film Putham Pudhu Kaalai. “I would love to play characters rooted in music. There is a dearth of movies or OTT shows that promote Carnatic music. I’m looking forward to watching Jagame Sangeetham, a Telugu series inspired by Bandish Bandits. I want to see more shows that portray the life of musicians. What director KB sir did brilliantly in films like Sindhu Bhairavi and Unnal Mudiyum Thambi needs to happen again; we need more content that showcases the mindset of a musician.”