Two super hit films, two Shirleys and one shape-shifting woman; dubbing artiste, actor, song writer and singer (among others) Manjuvani Bhagyaratnam is on the proverbial roll. Action Hero Biju ( AHB ) and Jacobinte Swargarajyam ( JSR ) literally changed her fortunes. Little did she know, when she promised her worried mother that she’d either get a job or ‘prove’ herself by December 31 last year, she would end up doing both.
An overwhelming passion for music led her to quit her HR job a couple of years earlier. She had only found her music after almost a decade of ignoring it. Jingles, voiceovers and dubbing kept her busy and her hopes afloat. That one break she was looking for, however, was taking its time coming; an unemployed, unmarried daughter was a cause of concern. The promise was the only way she could assure her worried mother.
If AHB showcased her talent as actor, then her dubbing for Lakshmy Ramakrishnan (Shirley) in JSR earned praise from the industry. She is yet to recover from JSR . Full of praise and still in awe of the film’s director, Vineeth Sreenivasan, whom she calls a genius. And to think she almost didn’t get the job.
“I gave a voice test for Shirley’s character but my voice was young and it obviously didn’t match the 50 plus character, which Vineeth told me rather apologetically. He assured me that in future if there was something suitable, he’d call me. It didn’t matter that I didn’t get the job, meeting him was enough. Ever since his first album, I have wanted to sing for him.” That evening she got a call asking her get to the studio the next day. She was dubbing for Shirley.
Vineeth asked her to lower her naturally high-pitched voice. It worked. “When I went to dub for the 51-year-old woman, with my more than 25 years experience as Carnatic singer, I should have known it. Vineeth was able to get that out of me.”
The game-changer was a call from friend and director Abrid Shine. An informal audition by the roadside, on Marine Drive, landed her Shirley’s role in AHB . In barely 10 minutes of screen time with Sajan Palluruthy, her lying, cheating ‘Shirley’ endeared her to the audience. She credits a workshop with actor Murali Menon for it.
“The role got me the attention I never imagined. Acting was never a passion; I thought if something was coming my way without me chasing it, then let me embrace it,” she says.
It was a good start to 2016. The going had been tough, creatively speaking, until then, she says.
A stint with Bengaluru-based BPOs, as a radio jockey in Dubai and in the human resource wing of a Kochi-based company, this lawyer’s route to films wasn’t easy. All the youngest daughter of Crime Branch DySP and college professor ever wanted to be was a singer. The one film, Saudamini , she had sung playback for in 2003, composed by Jerry Amaldev and written by P. Bhaskaran didn’t do well.
A CCRT Scholarship winner at 12, she had been training in Carnatic music since she was three. Throughout her years as student, music was a constant, performing and winning competitions. She even won a versification competition while in college.
Life took over, and she lost touch with music, globetrotting and learning new things. Music fell by the side; she realised when she tried singing a favourite song. “My voice was clogged, I was breathless. To my shock I realised I couldn’t sing.” Knowing she couldn’t sing effortlessly shook her up.
Stephen Devassy gave her a valuable piece of advice, “Sing for God; make it spiritual.” That and help from a voice therapist helped her find her music.
A wish to turn professional with her music, had led her to quit her job. She was busy with doing voiceovers and dubbing for documentaries when good friend Shankar Ramakrishnan introduced her to actor-director-writer Anoop Menon. Eventually he called her for Dolphins , as singer.
She sang a couple of covers of some Hindi and Malayalam numbers. It was Anoop who invited her to give dubbing a shot. “I ended up dubbing for three characters in three languages – Malayalam, English and Tamil – for the film.” She remembers Anoop telling her, “Vani, mark this day, it’s going to change your life.” Destiny took a while keeping her date with Manjuvani.
She patiently waited out the frustration and despair, till AHB happened. After shooting for AHB she penned a song, ‘Paalnila…’for V.K. Prakash’s Rockstar . Films came her way; roles similar to Shirley’s and some she didn’t have the time for. An offer from Madhupal has her all excited, filming starts this July.
2016 is special for another reason, she got married. She calls her husband Bhagyaratnam the wind beneath her wings. And singing? “I continue to wait like a vezhaambal (hornbill) for a song.”
