KV Prasad
In 1974, he had to jump over a wall to listen to MS Subbulakshmi in his native Ernakulam. Barely ten years later, he was her regular mridangist. For almost five decades now, Krishnan Visweswara Prasad, this year’s Sangeetha Choodamani awardee from Krishna Gana Sabha, has been a steady and dignified presence in the music field, known for his sensitive and unobtrusive musicianship.
This article appeared online in The Hindu newspaper on November 29th, 2025 and in print on December 1st, 2025.
The first in his family to take to the arts, KV Prasad learned mridangam from Narayana Iyer, Parassala Ravi and TK Murthy. When he was eleven, he was a rock drummer for the band Stone Age, playing the self-taught triple congo, dholak, tabla etc., and an integral part of many local film music orchestras. At seventeen, he was regularly accompanying Carnatic luminaries visiting Ernakulam.
After a BSc in Botany, Prasad sold automobile grease door-to-door and later was a parts-picker. “I had to earn a living,” he says. After a full day’s work, he would perform in kutcheri-s and orchestras in the evening. Unusual, especially for that generation, his father, V Krishna Iyer, actively encouraged music, stating that anyone could be a manager, but few could be artistes. Regardless of however late Prasad had gone to sleep, his father would wake him up at 6 am with shlokas – for 30 minutes of mandatory morning mridangam practice ‘accompanying’ whichever musician was singing on the radio.
In 1984, when Prasad was working with TVS in Kottayam, his father saw the notice for a vacancy at All India Radio (AIR) Madras. “I went for the interview only because TVS was there – I had never envisioned music as a career,” says Prasad. He got the job, retiring 34 years later, in 2018.
On his 3rd day at AIR Madras, Prasad played live at the prestigious 8.30 am slot for Dr. S. Ramanathan. “He had requested me specifically.” Others like Bombay Sisters and R Vedavalli took him on immediately as well. “I played at the evening slot in The Music Academy that very year for Vedavalli amma.” The same year, Kadayanallur Venkatraman escorted him to MS Subbulakshmi’s house at her request, where he had a short audition. From then on, he was her choice mridangist. AIR staff artistes do not often get opportunities to perform at the highest levels in concert arenas but Prasad was regularly requested by multiple senior musicians simultaneously. “In those cases, I performed with whoever asked first,” he says, stating he accepts performances based only on skill, and not age or gender.
He has toured extensively including in Cuba, Morocco, Hungary, Israel, Russia, United Kingdom, Singapore and many more. A regular for Mandolin Shrinivas for several years, he recollects an unforgettable 38-concert US tour in 1993 spanning 78 days.
He has played the mridangam in numerous cassette and CD recordings with many musicians including Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, DK Pattammal, MS Subbulakshmi, ML Vasanthakumari, Ganesh Kumaresh, Mandolin Shrinivas (“his famous double and triple mandolin albums too”), Kadri Gopalnath, violin luminaries TN Krishnan, Lalgudi Jayaraman and MS Gopalakrishnan, and percussionists TH Vinayakram, G Harishankar and Zakir Hussain. A memorable experience was playing mridangam tracks (RK Shriramkumar played violin tracks) for Divine Unison in 1999 – an album of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and MS Subbulakshmi singing together, sans accompaniments, at ‘Enfield’ Viswanathan’s house in 1967.
Photo courtesy: The Hindu; Sandeep Saxena
He has been part of the music of many movies like His Highness Abdullah, Bharatham, Kamaladalam, Manichitrathazhu, Devasuram, Thaniyavarthanam, Kudumbasametham and more. Prasad also acted in Fazil’s Oru Naal Oru Kanavu.
Prasad’s entire family is into music. His son, Krishna Kishor, is a multi-percussionist; daughter-in-law, Kamalaja Rajagopal, a playback singer; daughter, Krupaa Lakshmi, a Carnatic vocalist and Bharatanatyam dancer; and son-in-law, Barghav Hariharan, a Carnatic vocalist. Prasad credits his wife, Usha Prasad, a student of Madurai GS Mani and a PhD in music, as the enduring glue of the family, raising their children effectively alone as he was frequently away performing.
KV Prasad, quite possibly, is unique in concurrent prolificity for years together in Carnatic concerts, radio programs, film music and numerous cassettes and CDs. Unfailingly smartly attired and well groomed, he concludes, “I play with full involvement and sincerity, always aiming to touch the soul.”
