Tributes are always special. While some entertain, there are a few that take people on an emotional ride by giving a fitting tribute to the original artiste. Recently, many homage videos to violinist Balabhaskar, who passed away in a car crash, have surfaced on social media. Among those, violinist Nair Madhav Gopi and team's cover video stands out. The youngsters have come up with a befitting tribute to the violin maestro by doing a video cover of his tracks Begin with Soorya, Onninumallathe and A.R. Rahman’s Ennavale, which Bala used to regularly perform on stage.
The medley has already got enough attention from the viewers and is getting good feedbacks. Madhav, who started off as a violinist at the age of seven under the guidance of Nedumangad Sivanandan, is a great fan of Balabhaskar. “I had the chance to meet him 2-3 times; first, when I was 10. I even got an autograph from him which I still cherish. More than an artiste, he was a great human being. His album Let It Be has influenced me a lot. His own compositions were really outstanding. Being a violin artiste, this is the best tribute I can give to him,” says Madhav.
The greatest surprise came when he learnt that his team too had the same idea in mind. Soon, everyone started working on the medley, keeping their other works on hold. Madhav’s violin strings instil deep emotion in the heart of viewers. Adithya Narayanan M.S., the cinematographer, contributes well to the soothing frames that add to the feel of the musical, which is programmed, mixed and mastered by Dil Vinu.
On why he chose these three compositions, Madhav says, “Ennavale happens to be Balu’s wife Lakshmi’s favourite track too. Begin with Soorya is one of his most popular compositions and Onninnumallathe is an evergreen Malayalam album track.”
The team is really happy with the responses, mostly emotional ones. The team is currently working on two other covers and is planning to release their debut album next year. Madhav, who was a software engineer with Bosch, resigned his job to focus fully on a music career. He performs on stages across India and abroad. “It was my parents who made me join violin classes. The passion for music slowly turned into an obsession and now, I want to focus on a musical career. Thanks to the never-ending support of my family,” he wraps up.
