When was the last time
someone talked about the present day Malayalam film music? Is it because it’s
going through a bad phase now? Even reality show singers pick Tamil and Hindi
songs or rely on old Malayalam classics to prove their skills. No one seems to
be bothered about the songs made in Malayalam in the past 3-4 years, with a few
exceptions. Stage shows and dance programmes are almost completely relied on
Tamil and Hindi music, since it is extremely difficult to find even one
foot-tapping number from the vast array of songs being made in film after film
here. The directors and producers seem to have no interest in music; even the
biggest movies came with mediocre musical scores.
Death of great composers
like Raveendran and M.G. Radhakrishnan have created an emptiness which can’t be
ignored. Johnson is in semi-retirement mode and has a more comfortable job as a
reality show judge. Ouseppachan and Mohan Sithara give good songs given a
chance. Ilaiyaraaja makes better songs in Malayalam than what he makes in
Tamil, but bears the criticism of recycling his own yesteryear Tamil hits.
Vidyasagar is inconsistent when he gives the chartbuster Neelathamara first
and the mediocre Apoorvaragam next. Alex Paul, after the initial
streak of good melodies, fell into lower standards soon. M Jayachandran is the
only composer who is able to give good songs – both melodies and fast paced
songs, consistently. Veteran lyric writer Gireesh Puttenchery’s demise in April
2010 has created a sudden emptiness for soulful lyrics.
BUT, all is not lost. A
new breed of composers, lyricists and singers are gradually making their
presence felt in Malayalam film music. None of them have taken the industry by
storm, but they keep surprising us with some great songs now and then. Young
composers like Bijibal, Rahul Raj, Shaan Rahman, Gopi Sunder, Prashant Pillai, Mejo
Joseph, Ratheesh Vega, Siddharth Vipin, Manu Ramesan and many others have
entered the music industry bringing a lot of freshness to our music. Their
passion towards music is shown in their work, and their music is slowly and
steadily gaining acceptance among the Malayali audience, who are a bit reserved
about new trends.
While the veteran
composers had great scripts with due importance to music to work on, the new
comers are forced to do songs meant only as fillers in commercial cinema. In a limited
scope, these youngsters have made a mark by bringing in a fresh feel to their
songs, without imitating their seniors. With movies such as Loudspeaker,
Malarvaadi Arts Club, Ritu, Big B, Sagar Alias Jacky, Nayakan, Notebook, Cycle,
Cocktail, Anwar and Chekavar, these composers have shown
what they are capable of through their compositions, vocal arrangements and
orchestrations. Various new genres of music like rap (Big B, Sagar Alias
Jacky), jazz (Kaathu Kaathu – Malarvadi Arts Club), hip-hop (Njaan
– Anwar), qawwali (Kizhakku Pookkum – Anwar) are being tried out in Malayalam
music, which the younger generation can connect to.
And they've also proved their versatility within the albums they compose. Shaan can pull off a beautiful 'Maamarangale' in a movie like Ee Pattanathil Bhootham. Prashant Pillai is able to give an adrenalin rush through a song like 'Kaatte Vaayo' and also give the blissful 'Lolalolamaayi' in the same movie Nayakan. Bijibal showed what he is capable of, with his first outing (Arabikkatha) itself. Rahul Raj proved his range through different genres of songs in Chotta Mumbai, Chekavar and the award winning Ritu. Likewise, each one of these young composers can boast of a wide range in the music they create.
While they are experimenting with all these
genres, they also make songs rooted in our language and culture alternatively.
Fresh voices like Shreya Ghoshal , Shankar Mahadevan, Ranjith, Karthik, Naresh
Iyer, Benny Dayal, Achu, Rahul Nambiar, Suchithra, etc. are tried out with brilliant
effect. Singers like Vijay Yesudas and Shwetha Mohan have been given the
opportunity to prove their versatility through these fresh tunes, while the
veterans like Jayachandran, M.G. Sreekumar, Chitra and Sujatha are also used according
to the requirements of the songs. But one sorely misses the voice of K.J.
Yesudas, who is seldom heard now, except in certain brilliant songs by M.
Jayachandran (Amma Mazhakkarinu, Pinne Ennodonnum).
Composers like Deepak Dev and Alphonse Joseph
(on a high after singing AR Rahman’s Aaromale) are also coming back with a
vengeance. They are the ones who had initially created some hope and then faded out in between. But Deepak Dev gave the chartbuster Puthiya Mukham last year and was back in the top league. Alphonse has done some wonderful work in recent films like Athmakatha, Cocktail, etc and has plenty of projects lined up.
Lyricists like Rafeeq Ahmed and Anil Panachooran also instill hope.
Vineeth Sreenivasan impressed with his outing as a lyricist through the
simplistic songs of Malarvaadi Arts Club. With more and more young
filmmakers coming into the industry, there are many more opportunities for these
composers, singers and lyricists to get challenging projects to work on and
prove their worth.
With the audience
becoming much more aware of the different technical aspects in cinema, the
background scores are noticed more than before. Almost all the fresh faces are good
in background scores too.
Bijibal is one of the
most sought after people for background scores after movies like Palery Manikyam and Passenger. Rahul Raj impressed with his funky, over-the-top score
for Chotta Mumbai and a wonderfully understated score in Ritu.
Shaan Rahman’s background score for Malarvaadi Arts Club drew
attention too. The theme tracks of the movie like the funny ‘Shashi’
became immensely popular even as mobile ringtones. Gopi Sunder’s background
scores in Amal Neerad flicks are always appreciated and looked forward to. He
impressed with a beautiful score in Ividam Swargamanu as well.
Amal Neerad’s new movie Anwar even features an English rock
song by the popular rock band Motherjane as a part of its soundtrack, thus
tapping the potential the film of alternate non-film music also.
The young breed may not
be able to deliver a His Highness Abdullah or a Bharatham or
a Sargam or a Manichithrathaazhu. The reason is such
films happen seldom these days. Situations for songs like ‘Ramakatha
Ganalayam’ or a ‘Pramadavanam’ are a rarity to find in our
movies today. After Vadakkumnathan, there hasn’t been a single movie
with importance for music. Give these guys such movies and situations, they would come up with some great work!!
Music is treated just as
a mandatory requirement in our movies and not as an art form or a tool to move
the narrative forward. Very few directors like Lal Jose make it a
point to make the songs noticed in a movie. With the limited scope they get,
these composers are doing a wonderful job, and if they are given the right
opportunities and scripts, they are capable of doing much more than what they
are already doing. Malayalam film music may not go back to the time of the Devarajans,
Baburajs, Raveendrans or Johnsons, but hopefully shall progress to being known
as the music of the Bijibals, Shaans, Rahuls or Gopis.
