Pyaar Pyaar..., the groovy lyric video from upcoming flick Parava , is flying up to the top of the Malayalam music charts. The song’s been trending with the hashtag #addicted; it has crossed 3.5 lakh views on YouTube in a matter of days and DQ himself has given it his seal of approval by posting on Facebook that it’s his favourite song from the movie. That makes it yet another feather in the cap for musician and guitarist Rex Vijayan, who has composed the song for the film, actor Soubin Shahir’s maiden directorial venture.
“Soubin’s brief was simple. It’s a love song, about innocent first love, set during a school sports day. That itself was quite the inspiration. He sent me a number of English and Hindi songs as reference to capture the mood. I came across a young kid’s rendition of Ho Gaya Hai Tujhko To Pyar Sajna... [from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge ], I chopped it up, kicked up the tempo and sent it to the director. He was very happy with it. That’s how Pyaar, Pyaar... got its intro and inspiration. The song was initially called Nenjil based on the lyrics, written by Vinayak Sasikumar, but we decided against calling it that because there are too many songs in Malayalam that begin with the word nenjil, ” says the composer.
Rex himself has crooned the song in the film that stars Shane Nigam, actor Harisree Ashokan’s son Arjun Ashokan and late comedian Sainudeen’s son Zinil Sainudeen. Reportedly, it’s a children’s film, something to do with pigeon racing, and has DQ playing an extended cameo as well. “I have also composed a friendship song for the film and a couple of background scores too. It’s still a work in progress and we’re just about done with the music for the first half,” adds the reticent musician, lead guitarist of rock band Avial, pioneers of the alternative Malayalam music scene.
Rex turned composer in Mollywood with Bridge , director Anwar Rasheed’s segment in anthology Kerala Café (2009), followed by a full-fledged album for Samir Thahir’s Chappa Kurishu . While not at all prolific, over the years, Rex has given Malayalam cinema a handful of cult classic numbers, such as the entire albums of Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi, North 24 Kaatham and Saptamashree Thaskaraha. His last album was Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi back in 2015. “It’s not that I’m being choosy with projects, it’s because I haven’t been getting many offers,” says the musician. Now, that we don’t believe! Especially given that all his compositions are edgy and cool and have a definitive rocker vibe, with plenty of guitar riffs, moods that play right into the hands of a new generation music buffs... “I’m not the kind of composer who can come up with music on demand. I need to take my time with each composition and understand the subject completely. I like to hear from my directors about their takes on the movie and their inspirations. I like to look at pictures and visuals from the film before the music comes to me. A lot of directors don’t have the time or patience for that. That’s why I prefer to work with people who know me, directors like Soubin and Anil Radhakrishnan Menon [director of North 24..., Saptamasree... and Lord Livingstone... ], who understand my quirks and my need for space to make a good song,” says Rex. “To me a good song is one that satisfies me, the director and music buffs equally, one hundred percent,” adds the musician, who is simultaneously working on the songs of Mayanadhi , Aashiq Abu’s new film that’s in the making. “It’s another love song,” he says.
Meanwhile, Rex & Co. are kicking things up a gear on the rock front too. More than a decade after the release of their eponymous maiden album, Avial is finally fine-tuning their second one!
“We are basically a bunch of lazy bums; we have our gigs, we have fun and we are quite content with status quo,” explains Rex, with a laugh. “That said, we have been composing on and off but nothing’s really sticking. When we started out there were just a handful of bands. Now there are hundreds of bands and everyone is doing good. We are happy to see that the alternative music scene has evolved so much. But that does put pressure on us and we want to come up with something different. We want to be original,” he says, signing off.
