MUMBAI: On the occasion of Rakshabandhan ace Carnatic musician, Calcutta K Srividya collaborates with her brother, music composer & singer Mohan Kannan (Agnee) to present their latest offering, a Bhajan titled Govinda Nandanandana. Sung by Srividya, Govinda Nandanandana invokes Lord Krishna. It talks about the Lord through the eyes of a Gopi and is a playful look at how Lord Krishna could have been in childhood and youth. Srividya dons her composer’s hat for the first time with Govinda Nandanandana, through the lyrics of Tallapakka Annamacharya.

The Bhajan is steeped in melody and rich in its classical flavour but also blends new age sounds in a seamless manner. While Srividya has helmed the composition and rendered the major part of the vocals, her brother Mohan has sung a sargam, which makes for an unconventional music section on the song and played Tabla on it. The lyrics are by Tallapaka Annamacharya. The recording & mastering is done at YRF studios by Abhishek Khandelwal, assisted by Dileep Nair.

The soul touching devotional song comes with serene visuals of Srividya singing to Lord Krishna at Sree Guruvayurappan Temple in Kolkata. The music video showcases the beauty of the pristine Sree Guruvayurappan Temple and is Srividya’s & Mohan’s humble offering to Lord Krishna.

Speaking about bringing Govinda Nandanandana to life, Music composer and Singer, Srividya said, “This is a rather playful take on a Bhajan and is therefore quite unique. The song is written from the perspective of a Gopi who tells the naughty Lord Krishna ‘I know exactly who you are going to become and I understand you more than you can imagine. I have never scolded you, not even when you hid our clothes, so don’t worry. I know, in the end, we are all going to come to you for our salvation.’ The song unfolds as a conversation and that sets it apart from most other Krishna Bhajans, which lean more towards the Bhakti Ras. It is very humbling when you align with divinity and I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity. Govinda Nandanandana is not just a song for me, the entire process of composing it, singing it, shooting for it has helped me in advancing my spiritual journey and I want to thank every individual who has come in contact with me for this song, divinity after all resides in humanity”.

Speaking about the video and the song, Srividya’s brother Mohan Kannan said, “Since the time the Temple was just a single room, our entire family has been associated with it and we have all gone there multiple times to offer our prayers and also to perform. Srividya has always had a special affection and reverence for this Temple and Lord Krishna, and makes it a point to seek His blessings every time she visits Kolkata, no matter how short her stay is. It also has a lot of nostalgia for both of us as it is shot in a Temple we have been going to since childhood. The very fact that the stars aligned for us to be able to get permission to shoot in this auspicious location is a blessing for us. She was over the moon when she secured the permission to shoot this song at this temple, in a sense she literally travelled all the way to Kolkata from Chennai to seek the lord. We have to thank Shri Venkatramanan Mahadevan who went out of his way to make this happen. On the audio front, Aditya Pushkarna has done an absolutely brilliant job in beautifully blending modern sounds without letting go of the essence of the Bhajan or of the classical nature of the composition.”

Since the age of 7, Mohan and Srividya have performed at multiple Carnatic Classical concerts all over India, with Srividya either singing or playing the violin and Mohan playing the mridangam. Their first commercial studio collaboration was in 2011 for the national award-winning Marathi Film “Shala” composing and singing the song Sadaa. Sadaa also won the Video Music Award in 2012. They have also collaborated for a Thillana composed by their mother, Smt. Vasantha Kannan, in the ragam Kadyutha Ganthi which is the first known composition in this ragam.

Calcutta K Srividya is a highly acclaimed Carnatic Musician, proficient in both Vocal and Violin. She has learnt music from her Mother & Guru, Smt. Vasantha Kannan, a world-renowned Carnatic Violinist.

Composed & sung by Calcutta K Srividya, arranged in a contemporary style by Aditya Pushkarna and Mohan Kannan, Govinda Nandanandana releases on the Times Music Spiritual channel. The song will also be digitally distributed over major streaming platforms.