*LITERARY PURSUITS: (from left)Vikraman, Ja. Ra. Sundaresan and J. Krishnaswamy. *
When one is driving a car a long distance, one is bound to get bored. One could overcome the boredom by reading a book. Sounds like a prescription for disaster, doesn't it? Well, what if someone reads out a book to us as we drive? That could get monotonous too, and might even have a soporific effect. But what if 30-odd voices read out the dialogue, with modulation and inflexions, then wouldn't that be like listening to a radio play? Except, that in a radio play, we have no descriptive passages. But in an audio book like Swathi Solutions' ‘Sivagamiyin Sabatham,' the descriptive passages from the original book, are in tact too.
“We have not omitted even one word from Kalki's book. Even the Thevaram verses and Kalki's poem in the book have been set to tune,” says Bombay Kannan, director of the venture, and also the one reading out the descriptive passages for the audio book. Dialogue has been read by people varying from seasoned drama artists such as Vadhyar Raman to newcomers like Poonkuzhali, who is a newsreader on Sun News.
Kannan did have some misgivings about Poonkuzhali, because he was afraid she might read the dialogue as she did the news - in a matter-fact-way. But she just needed a few practice sessions, and was soon speaking like a pro!
The 12-year obsession
Kannan had planned way back in 1998, to make a TV serial of ‘Sivagamiyin Sabatham.' The plan fizzled out. But Sivagami had taken hold of him. Incidentally, Kalki himself says, in his foreword, that Sivagami and the other characters in the story, wouldn't let go of him for 12 years. And like Kalki, Bombay Kannan too was obsessed with these characters for 12 years, from 1998 to 2010.
It so happened, that Sudhakar of Swathi Solutions was looking for someone who could help him come out with an audio book. His only condition - it had to be a difficult book! So it was decided that Bombay Kannan would direct the audio book ‘Sivagamiyin Sabatham,' and Swathi Soft Solutions would produce it.
Why not Ponniyin Selvan, arguably the best of Kalki's three historicals? “That would have been too ambitious for a first venture,” say Sudhakar and Kannan.
Those who have lent their voices to the production got so involved in their characters, that they would sometimes come to Kannan, and ask for a retake, because they weren't happy with their reading the previous day! In the last scene Sivagami comes to terms with the fact that she has lost Mamalla forever, and realises that there is nothing that matters any more, but her divine art. “As the scene was being read out, all the readers assembled in the recording studio, had tears in their eyes,” says Kannan.
Sudhakar explains that audio books are very popular in the U.S. and on the Continent, and the trend will soon catch up here too.
The audio book, ‘Sivagamiyin Sabatham', consisting of four MP3 CDs, was released on February 17 {+t} {+h}, at Srinivasa Sastri Hall, by author Vikraman, and received by author Ja. Ra. Sundaresan. J. Krishnaswamy, producer of TV serial ‘Thiruppavai,' presided over the function. The CD is attractively packed with illustrations by Maniam Selvan on the cover. With a duration of 29 hours, and priced at Rs. 300, the CD is available in leading stores, or can be ordered online at www.kalakendra.com