Shwetha Surendran By Express News Service CHENNAI: Well-known for crooning big-screen hits such as Kalakkapovathu Yaaru from Kamal Hassan-starrer Vasool Raja MBBS and the title track from Boss Engira Bhaskaran, Chennai-based singer and composer, Satyan Mahalingam took them to a different screen on March 22. With the nationally-imposed Janta curfew in place and general panic all around, he decided to spread some cheer; and cheer did he spread, with a 14-hour live singing and music session on Facebook. “Everywhere I looked this week, there have been people talking about the coronavirus. It’s been a constant sense of, albeit well-intentioned, do this and do that. Everyone is stressed, and I thought I could do my little bit in helping them out,” reveals Satyan. Having always planned to host a 24-hour marathon session live, he figured a 14-hour live is a good place to begin. “Recently, while in conversation with one of my friends, Abhishek, he told me that if anyone could sing all day, it was me. So I decided to just go for it,” he said. With the March 22 Facebook live session starting bright and early at 7 am, it drew to a close at 9 pm, while attracting over 20,000 viewers at its peak. Tuned in, were not only the city’s residents but admirers from Singapore, Malaysia, and even Australia. Satyan, not a stranger to Facebook live sessions, hosting them for an-hour-and-a-half, every Friday at 8 pm for the past four weeks as SatyanUtsav, was well-prepped with over 225 songs for his audience on Sunday. “I sing across genres so I picked a mix of melodies, everything from the mid-’80s to the latest hits,” he says. The 14-hour session also had a dedicated time slot for his audience requests. I’d like to think that I can be the Alexa of songs for them, he adds. With multiple requests for AR Rahman and Shankar Mahadevan songs, Satyan doesn’t turn any of them down. “I’ve always believed that music is medicine for the soul. So if it’s what makes people feel better, I can help them with that,” says a cheerful Satyan. As he spends the quarantine with his kids, doing their homework, Satyan is looking to do something bigger and better, to keep people inside their houses. He gives us a sneak peek into the idea of hosting a 24-hour YouTube Live soon, and all we can say is, keep an eye out, or better yet, your ear!For updates and details on his live sessions, follow him at Satyan Mahalingam on Facebook and @mussatyan on Instagram

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