M S Subbulakshmi’s grandson goes to court over award for T M Krishna

Bengaluru: The decision to confer an award instituted in the name of M S Subbulakshmi on vocalist T M Krishna is being contested in the courts.

A petition filed by V Shrinivasan, grandson of the iconic singer Subbulakshmi, seeks the intervention of the Madras High Court to stop The Music Academy, Chennai, from presenting the Sangita Kalanidhi M S Subbulakshmi Award to Krishna.

Instituted in 2005 by a newspaper group, the award is presented annually to the Sangita Kalanidhi-designate, and carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. It is given in addition to the Sangita Kalanidhi Award, presented during the academy’s December music conference to a distinguished musician.

Shrinivasan, who lives in Bengaluru, compares the presentation of the Subbulakshmi award to Krishna to the presentation of a bhakti award to an atheist.

The petition says Krishna had made “vile, vituperative and scandalous attacks” on Subbulakshmi. In an article, Krishna had quoted an unnamed “young aspiring musician”, describing Subbulakshmi as “the greatest hoax of the twentieth century.” On another occasion, he had described her as a “saintly Barbie doll,” the petition says, alleging that Krishna’s “tirades” were aimed at “maligning a national icon”.

In her will, Subbulakshmi had barred the creation of any trust, foundation or memorial in her name, the petition says.

Earlier this year, when Krishna was chosen to preside over the academy’s 98th annual conference and designated as the Sangita Kalanidhi, some musicians had protested and returned their Sangita Kalanidhi titles.

In 1968, Subbulakshmi became the first woman recipient of the prestigious title. In an article published in DH on March 30, Shrinivasan had said, “The Sangita Kalanidhi title was among the awards MS cherished the most. We are being asked whether the family intends to return the title. It was awarded almost six decades ago and no one in the family intends to go back in time, and we have no right to do so either.”

Krishna is a Magsaysay Award-winning singer, writer and activist. The Magsaysay citation applauds “his forceful commitment as artist and advocate to art’s power to heal India’s deep social divisions, breaking barriers of caste and class to unleash what music has to offer not just for some but for all.”