Whether traditional Carnatic concerts or funkier music collaborations, film and theatrical productions or creating his own tracks, Praveen straddles several creative spaces seamlessly. And as an accompanist he has earned the respect of a wide array of artistes for whom he has played the mridangam, including S. Sowmya, T.M. Praveen, 28, also known as Thanjavur Praveen Kumar, is the grandson of mridangist Thanjavur Upendran, and great-grandson of thavil exponent Valangaiman Shanmugasundaram Pillai. If I were to perform an exclusive padam concert, I would choose only Praveen.”Veena exponent Kannan Balakrishnan, for whom both Upendran and Praveen have played, says, “Praveen echoes his grandfather in his playing.”T.M. The goal is to artistically collaborate on stage — very difficult to achieve but it can happen.”Praveen has scored and played music for Gowri Ramnarayan’s productions.

Source: The Hindu February 25, 2021 12:58 UTC