Shock, disbelief in India.
By Akanksha Warrier
MUMBAI: It was a day of shock and disbelief as the news of Mandolin Srinivas’ demise spread among the music and art fraternity in the city and nation.
Mandolin Srinivas died aged just 45, due to complications following a liver transplant in Chennai, on Friday morning. Many could not believe the news about Srinivas for whom the moniker child prodigy stuck to him even when he grew up to be a music great, who performed with legendary performers.
Hailing from Palakollu in West Godavari district, bending a Western string instrument to create sounds of Carnatic music, Mandolin Srinivas broke into music firmament at the age of nine in 1978 when he performed at Gudivada Thayagaraja Aradhana festival.
His real name was Uppalapu Srinivas. Over a period of time, Srinivas mastered the skills of playing mandolin and become a prominent player of the Carnatic musical tradition of southern India. Having played an electric mandolin, he collaborated with John McLaughlin, Michael Nyman and Michael Brook. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2010. He was a follower and devotee of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and has also performed before him on several occasions.
Young actor Rahul Ravindran, shocked to hear the news about Srinivas’ death, tweeted, “Mandolin Srinivas no more????? How?? He was only 45! Pride of Andhra and T.N.. Shocking.. True genius. Everyone in my family is a huge fan. His tapes would be playing at home when I was a kid.1 of those legends whose work ensured that I developed good taste in music.Magician. RIP”
Mandolin Srinivas’ sudden death has shocked many in the Telugu film industry and many Tollywood stars took to their Twitter pages to share their shock and sadness.