Celebrating Shankar Mahadevan

I was listening to Shankar melt my heart yet another time with his Maa (Taare Zameen Par), when I decided to dedicate a blog post to him.
Shankar Mahadevan is my all time favorite singer along with Srinivas. I respect and worship SPB, Ilayaraja and ARR but, this is a personal favorite list, I hope the greats will forgive me.
Why do I celebrate rather than worship/ respect/ adore/ admire Shankar?
He is simply my musical best man. He is Mr. Versatile in my opinion. He is a man for my every mood. He is the painkiller, he is my tranquiliser, he is my rejuvenator. Why do I value his company more than the great SPB? Shankar also wears a composer's hat, and given his strongest classical and hindustani music roots, he churns out the numbers just the way I want when he is composing them and when he is adding value to another composer's number, he infuses so much more into the song that it is impossible not to fall for his honest rendition . It is almost like liking variants of filter coffee. Everyone knows that filter coffee of the top draw is fantastic, yet people have their own variants they swear by.
Anyway, enough of the coffee break, back to why I so celebrate Shankar -
He is the best emoter when you think of singing as a art form. The brihas and gamakas are so delightful coming out of him, and I just cannot stop smiling at his variations in so many of his songs.
He is a man for every type of song, versatility is such an obvious asset of his - I don't need to stress on this.
He has provided so many of my musical highs -let me start doing what I like to do, list my favorite Shankar Mahadevan songs (Sung by Shankar, composed by his trio/ other music directors) by flavor!

Peppy, Uplifting Shankar!
1. Varaaha Nadhikaraiyoram - This along with Breathless were my first doses of the magic drug that comes in king size! Its almost like starting a document with a pillaiyaar suzhi. Lets move on.

2. Uppu karuvaadu - Harish was a college kid in his first year in 2000, needless to say he liked songs energized him. Shankar is like the neighborhood power station which charged Harish in 3 minutes flat.

3. AaL thotta boopathy - When I was raving about Shankar's ability to elevate an ordinary composition to another level with his energy, acumen and abundant talent - this was one of the songs on the top of my mind. Unbelievable singing when he goes "Kaadhal Kalyaanatha, andha saami senjaaradaa." Whoelse could match Simran's uplifting (:p) beauty in that song? Shankar's rendition. What else!

Fast Romance numbers with a classical flavor
My favorite Shankar Mahadevan category - I do not know what else to call these. Shankar is simply unmatched in this type of songs. Songs where Shankar blends his creativity with precision and unabashed bold singing. Let me just list these songs to give you a better idea.
1. Manasa Gelupu - This song from the Telugu movie Godavari is a must listen. Bringing Classical music and pop together couldn't be done better. Shankar's ability to go to fifth gear from second gear is evident in the charanams, and the kalpana swaras are so energetic and beautiful.
2. Tumne Aaj meine jo dekha - I discovered this song from Kuch naa kaho years after its release, and I was impressed by how honest and genuine the song was. If you want to convey your love to a girl, play this song! Dipak Krishnamani - if you ever read this, thanks for taking me in that now defunct Hyundai Santro of yours (in 2005 sometime) and playing this song!
3. Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom - There are six versions (ok seven) of this song in the movie, one just has to listen to all the other versions before coming to Shankar's rendition to realize how much more value he adds! Fantastic stuff.
4. Manmadha Maasam (Paarthale Paravasam) - ARR meets Shankar Mahadevan. Period.

Slow, sad, pathos, beautiful etc.
Why does he melt hearts better? Surely it's a god given gift. Or is it his complete mastery of Bhaava? whatever it is - God bless Shankar!
1. Maa - Taare Zameen Par. Shankar matches ARR and his phenomenal Luka Chupi with this innocent, child like confession.
2. Taare Zameen par title track - The song playing in a big screen with those out of the world end credits will make even the stoniest hearted among us cry. It taught me a few lessons on the beauty of life, on the importance of being alive etc. To live is a boon. To live with Shankar's music playing in the room makes you realize it!
3. Enge Enge - This unbelievable song is a little known chupa rustum. "Iraiva nee thotru vittaai, Kaadhal idam nee thottru vittaai" - BRILLIANT!
4. Uruguthe maruguthey - When Shankar and the incredibly gifted Shreya Ghoshal team up for a beautiful duet, the romantic in you is reborn. As BK said - "Kadavul kitta karuvarai kaetten, unna sumakkavaa?" has to be a legendary line.


I guess this listing exercise is just the tip of the iceberg. It will be good if you all could add to this. Even I need to dig deeper than the top of the mind to pay a complete tribute to Shankar Mahadevan.