This was followed by 'Ra Ra', a composition by Saint Thyagaraja, and tunes like 'Nagumo Keerthanai'. 'We played for about one-and-half hours and started off with the customary 'Vathapi Ganapathy',' Muruganandam said. 'We were informed that it was she who wanted a south Indian flavour to her marriage,' Mohanraj said.Īnd when the big moment came, the music took control. The team's 'Thodi Ragam' did the trick and landed them at the Bachchan residence Pratheeksha in Mumbai.Īishwarya had heard the 'Mangala Vathiyam' in a south Indian wedding and desired the same music to be played when she tied the knot with her beau.Īt least, that is what Muruganandam and Mohanraj believe.

'We play regularly at a temple and that is how she came to know of us and called us for an audition, where we managed to impress her,' he said. Speaking to PTI on a relaxed afternoon here, he said it still had not sunk in for him that he had performed at the high-profile but private event that was extensively covered by the media.Ĭlad in dhoti-kurta and en route to a performance, Muruganandam said his team was chosen thanks to Mylapore Balavinayagar and singer Kalyani Menon. 'It was not till two days before the marriage that we knew we were going to play the nadaswaram and thavil,' said lead musician Muruganandam. The nadaswaram is a wind instrument played in south India during auspicious occasions and the suggestion that it should replace the shehnai, associated with north Indian weddings, came from none other than the bride. When the team comprising Mylai P Muruganandam, Mylai S Mohanraj, P C Rajarathinam and RM Dakshinamoorthy learnt it would be playing at the nuptials of Abhishek and Aishwarya on April 20, it was a sweet surprise for them. The team was informed it would have to play at a marriage in Mumbai, but was kept in the dark till almost the last minute whose wedding it would be performing at. The shehnai was replaced by the nadaswaram at the wedding of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, with a four-member team of musicians from here playing traditional tunes with a south Indian flavour selected by the bride.

Nathaswaram