TV producer showcases old classics in virtual music series

Chennai

To bring such songs back to the spotlight, veteran TV producer-scriptwriter Subhashree Thanikachalam has been curating a music series called Quarantine from Reality. “In reality shows and stage shows, singers tend to keep singing the same songs and hardly try performing any old songs. Though the Tamil film industry has produced a lot of classics during the 60s and 70s, many songs went unnoticed. And all of these songs are by legendary singers. During the lockdown period, I thought of bringing such songs to people’s notice. That’s how I started hosting the series Quarantine from Reality on social media,” says Subhasree.

She unearths rare old Tamil film songs and explains the story behind the songs and how it was made. “I can just share the YouTube link and ask people to watch it. But what’s the fun in that? I made this exercise more interesting by collaborating with singers. I get popular singers and also singers from earlier reality shows to present the songs. Each session starts with a trivia on the song -- I have collected information about the song from people who were involved in the making of the song. I also discuss musicality and lyrical expressions of songs,” she explains.

Subhasree says that the music series has helped her get to know many new singers as well. “When I announced the project, many singers who participated in old reality shows got in touch and expressed their interest to be part of it. I select songs from all decades so that people across different age groups can enjoy it. I am planning to wind up the series on MS Viswanathan sir’s birthday, June 24,” she says.