Notes to Myself l Episode 3 l Season 1 l Bombay Jayashri l MOPA

Do give a thought to supporting such ventures, to cover operational and production costs that bring high-quality work to you. The minimum amount is set to Rs 100 by default. Anything more is your discretion. Hers is a voice that is immediately distinctive, whether in a Tyagaraja composition, Surdas bhajan, Marathi bhav geet or a film song, with its unique timbre, feel and range. This is the voice of Bombay Jayashri, a singer who has performed widely and successfully across genres - Carnatic music, Indian film playback singing, semi-classical music, fusion and more. Her music is as cosmopolitan as it gets, her own instinctive leanings helped greatly by her mother and her mentor Lalgudi Jayaraman, both of who nudged her towards an openness for and appreciation of everything melodious and beautiful. In this episode, Jayashri describes her mother’s singular focus on grooming her into a performer, the ‘Bombay-ness’ of her growing up years, the intense training under violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman and the ebb and flow of a remarkable journey that led her through several cities, teachers and genres of music. Notes to Myself is one of MOPA’s flagship projects - a series of interactive, expository documentaries that deconstructs the lives and creative processes of some of the most impactful professionals associated with South India’s performing arts. Done in a let-your-hair-down and from-the-heart way, these offer an honest, moving and at times funny and charmingly unguarded look at the lives of these artistes. Errata: 1:15:17 - Yann Martel (author of Life of Pi), not Ian Martin 02:12 - Early memories 08:05 - Your mother’s influence on your musical life 16:06 - Learning from Balamani 23:45 - Meeting Lalgudi Jayaraman and moving to Madras 27:00 - Discipleship with Lalgudi Jayaraman 33:00 - Pressures of life in a new city 41:50 - Lalgudi Jayaraman’s openness to other genres of music 45:35 - Lalgudi Jayaraman unplugged 49:39 - Life as a performing musician 53:38 - Becoming a star of the recording era 58:40 - The role of a teacher 1:05:05 - Tryst with film music 1:08:32 - Singing with different music directors 1:14:55 - Life of Pi 1:21:59 - Reflections Film Credits: Concept, Curation and Artistic Direction: Savita Narasimhan Direction and Editing: Gowrishankar Venkatraman (@gowrishankarv) Director of Photography: Kalaiselvan Sivaji (@kalaiiiiiiiiii) Associate Cameraman: Shanthakumar Chakravarthy Production Management: B Charles, Gowtham Ganesan (@chennaiarttheatre) Video Production & Post Production: Swung Dash Studios, Chennai Illustrations: A Z Ranjit Subtitles: Samanvitha Sasidharan Photographs and Visual Excerpts, from the collection of: Bombay Jayashri Hariharan Sankaran Sruti archives YACM archives The Hindu Photos from the Academy award reception (Oscars): Dan Goldwasser, Soundtracks by: J. Scott Rakozy, Kevin Turner, Sofia Dragt, Pendelton, Peter John, Outland Venue Courtesy: ‘Swarnarekha’, residence of Shobhana and Rajendran, Chennai Chief Sponsor: Kauvery Hospital, Chennai MOPA is grateful to Kauvery Hospital for supporting this project. Produced by MOPA Foundation ©2021