Chinmaya Maruthi hosted a beautiful  Valentines day concert on Feb 14, 2021 with playback singer Senthildass Velayutham. He delighted audiences with songs in several languages including Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The concert was a fundraiser to support stage musicians who have been hit hard due to COVID. 

Opening with Avviayar’s “Palum Teli Tenum” as an offering to Lord Ganesha, Senthildass and his wonderful fellow musicians and then launched into an amazing concert along with his female lead singer Pavitra and supported by a phenomenal band. The concert not only featured pre-planned numbers but also had impromptu numbers presented based on audience requests. The concert was  beautiful taking us back to the 80's and 90's with songs from Isaignani Illayaraaja and SPB.  The song requests came pouring in and Senthil, Pavitra, and the band were ever ready for the demand and played the requests without any hesitation. Senthil was eager to perform his best, he was incredibly energetic and sang nonstop for over three hours. Senthil's voice was so mesmerizing that the demand for requests continued, but unfortunately, we had to stop taking further requests as he was unable to keep up with demand due to time constraints.    

Senthil comes from a  very small town called Neduvasal from the Pudukkottai District in Tamil Nadu. The simple fact that Senthil came from a farmer's background and rose up to become a playback singer speaks volumes to his talent and accomplishment. Senthil has performed over 5,000 live concerts and it was spectacular to see how he improvised based on the audience's demands. Over 100 people sign up to her Senthil, from all around the country. Additionally, there were special guests from London who dialed into the event, as they couldn't bear to miss a performance form Senthil. For those who don't know, his most recent song was a hit from Dhaarma Durai, which stayed on the top of the chart for a very long time.  

As a recap, Senthil opened the concert with a few devotional songs,then switched over to his portfolio of love songs. Katril Varum Geethamay was the opening  love song which we heard from the melodious voice of Pavitra. Senthil and team had come prepared for singing in various languages with half of the concert to be in Tamil and the rest were to be Telegu, Hindi, and Kannada. The large number of Tamil requests encompassed the majority of the show, and Sentil had the opportunity to sing many of these very demanding requests.

The event was the brain child of Meera Subramanium who worked with a wonderful team who worked tirelessly to pull off an event that mesmerized us for hours and helped send us back in time. The band was very powerful and vibrant, yet very sober which set a perfect tone for the event. This was an incredible event that will remain in our hearts, as it happened during these rough COVID times, making it super special.  

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The Band

About the singers

Senthildass Velayutham is a playback singer in the Tamil film industry and a stage performer.  He has worked in many popular movies and performed in several stage shows, concerts and festivals. He is also a Voice Conductor, Arranger, Song Writer, and Music Director.

Pavithra Sengeni is a singer and stage performer. She has performed in several shows alongside notable musicians.

Presenters

Senthildass Velayutham

Vocal

Pavithra Sengeni

Vocal

Ramesh Somalingam

Lead Guitar

Naveen Jude

Keyboard

Gerald

Bass Guitar

Gopi

Electronic Rhythms

Arumbu Surya

Tabla