Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar, percussionist and Padma Shri recipient I consider it my good fortune, a blessing, to have had the opportunity to perform with him. I first met Zakirji in Thiruvananthapuram during the pre-production stage of ‘Vanaprastham’. When Shaji and actor Mohanlal introduced me as a ‘chenda vidwan’, Zakirji expressed interest in seeing my Thayambaka. His love for Kerala’s vadyam …
“Zakirji had huge respect for Kerala and its traditional percussion instrument chenda,” recalls veteran Kerala percussionist Mattannur Sankarankutty Marar as memories of his long-standing association with the tabla maestro Zakir Hussain come rushing in. Zakirji, who had scored music for the movie, had told the director that he would like to see me perform thayambaka, a solo recital on chenda,” …
