Veena exponent Rajhesh Vaidhya had set a record by playing 60 songs for 60 minutes continuously at an event in Savera Hotel in Chennai recently. He has been sharing snippets of these songs on his social media pages as part of the #DoYouHaveAMinute series, started over three months ago.
The Asia Book of Records recognised this and awarded him and his band members – Marshall Robinson on keyboard, Kumaran SS on drums, Sai Hari on Ghatam, under the title – ‘Maximum song snippets played on a veena in an hour’.
Thanks to #AsiaBookOfRecords for recognising and honouring me.. ???? pic.twitter.com/xr4EdOCWRm
— Rajhesh Vaidhya (@RajheshVaidhya) June 30, 2019
The veteran veena player has been posting one minute videos of song covers on social media. While he started out alone, other members of the band came on board later.
During the live show on June 30, they started with ‘Chinna Thayaval’ from Thalapathy and ‘Chinna Chinna Vanna Kuyil’ from Mouna Raagam, and later played ‘Vizhiyile’, ‘Thendral Vandhu Thedumbodhu’, ‘Kaadhal Sadugudu’, ‘Anjali Anjali’, ‘Innum Konjam Neram’, and more.
Actor-director Suhasini Mani Ratnam, actors Prasanna, Raaj Kamal, Latha Rao and others were present during the show. They congratulated him post the event.
June 30 also marked the 100th day since he started the series. Vaidhya posted the cover version of the Ilaiyaraaja composition ‘Aasai Nooruvagai’ from the 1983 film Adutha Varisu on that day.
#DoYouHaveAMinuteSeries – 100th day with all your support -???
Aasai Nooru Vagai .#RajheshVaidhya Kumaran Marshall pic.twitter.com/kLX7mGdyG0
— Rajhesh Vaidhya (@RajheshVaidhya) June 30, 2019
They have also play special covers and dedications such as ‘Poonkaatru Pudhidhaanadhu’ on World Music Day, ‘Vaa Vaa Vasanthame’ dedicated to Malaysia Vasudevan and ‘Meendum Meendum Vaa’ on Ilaiyaraaja’s birthday, and ‘Vathikuchchi’ on Ajith’s birthday.
Isayil Thodangudhamma .#RajheshVaidhya pic.twitter.com/5eAKbYng0V
— Rajhesh Vaidhya (@RajheshVaidhya) June 14, 2019
Raja Raja Chozhan #RajheshVaidhya Marshall Kumaran pic.twitter.com/SWURCcmm5O
— Rajhesh Vaidhya (@RajheshVaidhya) June 7, 2019
A mashup as a dedication to Ilaiyaraaja has just released. The video also features bass by Aalaap Raju and vocals by Rajhesh Vaidhya’s daughter Malavika.
Rajhesh Vaidhya has given stage performances, released many independent albums and worked on films with music composers such as Ilaiayaraaja, AR Rahman, Harris Jayaraj and Devi Sriprasad.
He was awarded the Kalaimaamani by the Tamil Nadu government in 2010.
