As ‘Oru Mozhi Mindathe’, a melodious number from Lijin Jose’s upcoming film Law Point , with music direction by Mejjo Joseph, creates waves on the Mollywood music charts, singer Kaushik Menon is over the moon. “I guess I’ve got a hit on my hands because I’ve finally started getting calls from the Malayalam media asking for interviews!” says young Kaushik, with a chuckle. The Chennai-based singer, who has many hits in Tamil and Telugu to his credit, including the scintillating ‘Naatkal Nagarnthu’ ( Ninaithale Inikkum ) in Tamil and the male cover version of ‘Nenjukulle’ (from A.R. Rahman’s Kadal ) finally gets his “much longed for” break in Malayalam.
“They say that we don’t always get what we wish for handed to us on a platter. I’ve wanted to make an impact on the music scene in Kerala, my home state, for a long time now. I’m happy that finally I’ve got a hit,” says Kaushik, who hails from Thattamangalam in Palakkad district. This is only Kaushik’s second song in Malayalam; he made his entry into Mollywood with a duet in the film Entry (2012), the music of which was also directed by Mejjo (the song was singer Minmini’s comeback number too). “I really liked the melody ‘Nin mounavum’ that I sang in Entry . Unfortunately, because the film did not do well, the song went unnoticed. And that’s one of the biggest issues facing the music industry today – of late, the success of a music score has now come to depend on the success of the film,” says Kaushik.
The soulful yet peppy duet ‘Oru Mozhi…’ is actually Kaushik’s fifth song with Mejjo, the other three being Telugu numbers. “Mejjo and I have known each other since I sang the Tamil and Telugu versions of the songs of Notebook and we have a good rapport,” says Kaushik, who has also worked with music directors of the likes of A.R. Rahman, Harris Jayaraj, and Vijay Anthony, to name a few.
Kaushik, once a star on the youth fete and the stage show circuit, credits veteran playback singer S. Janaki for fostering him in filmdom. “I had known Janaki amma since childhood as she is a friend of the family. She knew of my talent in singing, took me under her wings and literally dragged me to Chennai, inviting me to stay in her home, while I followed my dreams in music. She’s been my champion ever since. In fact, during a stage performance in Palakkad, she gave me a glowing introduction. SPB uncle [singer S.P. Balasubramaniam], who was in the audience, later told me: ‘Janaki amma has only ever introduced one other person with such confidence in talent. And that was me!’”
However, it took Kaushik a long while to really break into the music scene. “I gained much because I was determined that I would sing only solos but I lost out on a lot of opportunities too. At that point of time I was too young to make sound decisions for myself. At one point I even had to give up music and start an export-import business,” says Kaushik. Then, the friendship song in Ninaithale Inikkum happened and a clutch of awards followed. “I realised the value of happiness. I get much happiness from music and decided to involve myself in music full time.” The youngster says he’s got a few songs in the kitty, including a handful in Malayalam. “I don’t want to be just any other singer. I want to be the kind of playback singer that music directors feel they must have when they think of a song.”
