Years back, when he first came on the scene, I was floored by the voice, in fact, even more by the pathos in the voice. Then he went on to sing a few similar sounding songs, which started sounding repetitive. Then came Chandanamanivathil and lo, the phoenix rose again, though not from the ashes, as the cliché goes!

He started out singing ghazals on Trivandrum Doordarshan in the beginning of the 80’s, before Hariharan came on the Ghazal scene. This music graduate has sung in hundreds of movies, even more non-film albums, even more devotional albums and so on. I have been and admirer, a fan, since Unarumee Gaanam. But from afar. I had never thought I would get to see him, meet him, share thoughts with him, share a stage with him etc. Then he married a very dear friend’s sister and then the possibility loomed large, I knew it was only a matter of time.

He has won a few state awards and many critics and other awards. His achievements, tours, pictures, song details etc can be had from his website www.gvenugopal.com. Please do visit the site.

And then I met the MAN. At my friend’s place. Shared a biryani, spoke at length. I was impressed, he was not just a great singer, he was such a great person, so soft spoken, no airs at all, friendly, warm. I am running out of compliments here..

Then, he was singing at a private residence, a sit down mehfil and I was invited by him to attend. Off I went, happily. It was a fantastic experience, the very first time that I was hearing a famous playback singer sing in an intimate private setting for so few people.

My dear pal, Murali told him of our regular musical get to-gethers and he said that he will come and sing one day for us. I told him then that I would hold him 2 his promise, n hold on to it I did, reminding him and Murali all the time for over a year.Many a times v narrowly missed getting him sing 4 us. At last, he called up one day in May and said, Harris, I will sing 4 u in June! In the meanwhile he had visited this website and had spoken to me about it.

June 5^th it was, 2005. The venue was the Beach Hotel Parnasala. It is a small hut like structure with a palm-leaves lined roof. An ideal setting. The program started off at 7:45pm. He started off with a small pep talk in general, delivered in his inimitable soft spoken manner. The first song he sang was Sangeetha Madhurima, a Malayalam ghazal that he himself had sung for an album composed and written by 2 stalwarts from Calicut . A beautiful ghazal, it appears on all Malayalam TV channels regularly. The next song was Akele Hai Chale Aao, a song by Mohammed Rafi from the movie Raaz. And it was rendered beautifully. Full credit to him for not trying 2 imitate Rafi in any way. He then spoke about music directors lifting tunes and being inspired. According to him, there is nothing wrong in being inspired and adopting the good elements of a pervious song. He then sang Kadale Neela Kadale, a Malayalam song rendered by Talat Mehmood, his favourite singer and composed by one of his favourite composers, Baburaj (the other being Madan Mohan), from the Malayalam movie Midumidukki. He then sang Kuch Door Hamare Saath Chalo, a ghazal made famous by Hariharan. Let me tell u, this was rendered beautifully. It is always a complaint that a south Indian, especially a malayali, cannot pronounce Hindi perfectly. An oft-quoted example is Yesudas. Personally, despite the pronunciation factor, I think the songs rendered by Yesudas in Hindi are fantastic. But then that is besides the point here. The point here is that this man’s pronunciation in Hindi, his rendition of a ghazal by none other than Hariharan, was perfect.

He then sang Suhaani Raat, again by Rafi. This too was delivered beautifully. One cud see heads nodding in time throughout. The next song is my personal favourite of the entire mehfil. There is a Malayalam movie song Nadikalil Sundari Yamuna.. composed by Baburaj and originally sung by Yesudas. He added a small aalap to it in the beginning, did a few ghazal style repetitions in the first stanza, exploring the nuances of the raga, added some swars to it and truly transformed it into a first rate ghazal. Have never heard anyone do that so magnificently. He then went on to sing Sabko Maloom hai mein Sharabi nahin and by Pankaj Udhas, Prana Sakhi Njan and Oru Pushpam mathram, 2 malayalam movie songs composed by Baburaj, Jalte Hai Jiske Liye and Phir Wohi Shaam by Talat, an up tempo Marathi song and a Pakistani ghazal-like movie song, both rendered by Ghulam Ali, Kahin Door Jab Din, originally rendered by Mukesh in the movie Anand, Harsha Bashpam Thooki, a Malayalam movie song rendered by Jayachandran, Ehde Masti Hai, a ghazal rendered by Hariharan, Chandanamanivathil, composed by the late Raveendran and rendered by Venugopal himself in the Malayalam movie Marikkunilla Njan etc. He wound up the program with Chandi Jaisa Rang, by Pankaj Udhas. A two-hour musical feast, filled with soulful, stirring melodies. He showed us his control and mastery over his vocal chords without resorting to any gymnastics. The nuances and subtleties he explored were treat for the ears. This man deserves to be up there, with the best, a national level singer, on the same platform as Hariharan, SPB, Shankar Mahadevan etc. I fail to understand y his potential has not so far been exploited to the hilt by music directors.

A fantastic performance, a truly great evening, minor hiccups not withstanding. But then, if it were not for the stones, the brook would never have its bubbling sound!

Former principal of the Physical Education College, former national sportswoman and coincidentally, Venugopal’s mothers colleague, Lucy Varghese gave a small token of our appreciation to him.

Everybody went away with a song in their hearts and a smile on their lips, thinking about this gifted, extraordinary singer, who has much, much more to give us all musically. Our sincere thanx to this large hearted, soft-spoken, singer extraordinaire`, for letting us add another feather to our caps. This website will be much richer in content due to his presence.