'AR Rahman's mother chanting, praying': Shankar Mahadevan recalls a moment of divine intervention from US concert

Shankar Mahadevan's inimitable voice has rendered countless memorable songs. Those who grew up in the '90s would know that songs like Yenna Solla Pogirai, Aasmaan Ke Paar Shayad, or even the cult classic Breathless stood apart from the rest because of the singer's unique texture and technical prowess. There's emotion oozing out from each note that he hit and his being highly trained in both Hindustani and Carnatic 

Shankar Mahadevan's work with AR Rahman, in particular, has achieved cult status over the years and the reason could be quite simple: the singer's buoyancy and skills perfectly complement Rahman's stillness and an ability to be receptive/adaptive. The duo has produced some of the greatest pieces of film music of the modern era and though the frequency of their collaborations has dropped a little in recent times, one surely hopes to see them being in one another's musical company for as long as possible.

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Kay Sera Sera from Pukar is another song that comes to mind when one thinks of the combination of AR Rahman and Shankar Mahadevan. The perky number features the iconic dance repartee of Madhuri Dixit land Prabhudeva and supporting the two quite incredibly behind the scenes is the duo of Kavitha Krishnamurthy and Shankar Mahadevan: the latter's high-pitched vocals, especially, lend a new dimension to the song which many merrily humm till date. 

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During an AR Rahman concert that was held in the U.S. back in the '90s Shankar Mahadevan was meant to kick off the event with Kay Sera Sera but much to his shock and dismay, his voice gave up on him temporarily. It appeared as though he would be unable to participate but his fellow singers, namely S.P. Balasubramaniam, K.S. Chithra, Kavitha Krishnamurthy, Hariharan, etc. were unwilling to give up. "I still remember they were all praying for me," he recounts in a recent interview, highlighting another endearing facet of that evening. 

"I remember Rahman's mother has a beads kinda thing in her hand and she was chanting and praying so that my voice becomes okay. Chithra ji gave me a powder that could soothe my voice and open it up. It was next to impossible but there was some intervention from above and I went on stage and hit 'Naujawano'!"

Surely, Shankar Mahadevan was able to deliver the performance required of him but what's etched more vividly in his mind is the support and care he received from everyone around, including A.R. Rahman's mother.