Rock music seems to be all the rage nowadays on the silver screen. Tamil cinema rocked to it a while ago with bluesy Aaromale… ( Vinaythaandi Varuvaya ) and Bollywood, more recently, with the spectacular Bhaag DK Bose… ( Delhi Belly ). Mollywood is not too far behind. The current rage on the Malayalam music charts is the rock number Aana Kallan… from director Ashiq Abu's soon-to-be released film Salt n' Pepper .
The song has been composed and sung by popular ‘alternative Malayalam rock' band Avial, who shot to fame with their earthy Nada Nada… in 2003. Aana Kallan… is the band's first release since its self-titled debut album rocked the charts in 2008, and won them the top honours at the Jack Daniels Annual Music Awards in 2009 (the equivalent of the Grammys in the Indian music scene).
Long time coming
Now, that's three years too long coming. (Laughs). “We do hold the track record of keeping fans waiting, don't we? But that's what you get when four lazy guys try to make music!” quips Tony John, the lead vocalist of the city-based band. “Director Ashiq is a friend and he was very keen that one of our songs be a part of the film's OST. We jumped at the chance because we already had a song that seemed perfect for the theme – about a small-time crook – that we had been composing for our second album. Besides, it's not just a regular soundtrack. We actually perform the song in the film,” adds Rex Vijayan, the guitar and synths man of the band. It is rumoured that the film ends with a bang (literally) with Aana Kallan… and is said to be a montage of the escapades of the character played by young actor Asif Ali. “We had loads of fun shooting the video, which is very kind of like what you would see in a music video rather than a filmy number,” says Tony.
Just like most of Avial's previous numbers, Aana Kallan … too is a rocked up version of an old Malayalam folk song, the lyrics of which have been slightly modified by the band's friend Saju Sreenivasan. However, the song itself is rather different from Avial's classic rock style, which is infused with plenty of jazz. This particular number is more of lighter rock, with more melody and more funk.
“We wanted to try something different. This song is more or less like a teaser for our second album. Whereas the first album was total rock, the second will be an avial (mix) of styles with more focus on melody,” says Tony. Mithun Puthenveetil (drums) and Binny Issac (bass) are the other members of the band. And will we have to wait another four years for the second album to come out? “At the rate we're going, that's most likely! Just kidding. We have planned eight to 10 songs for the album and we're actually progressing at a good pace,” says Tony. In the meantime, keep on rocking Avial!
Quirky garb
In their first outing in Mollywood, Avial has paid tribute to Malayalam and Malyalam cinema with their attire. So the four band members are wearing t-shirts emblazoned with popular comedy one-liners from Malayalam, such as Pavanayi Shavamayi and Malappuram Kathi, Ambum Villum (from the film Nadodikattu), Polandine kurichu parayaruthu…(Sandesham) and Sadhanam Kayyillundo? (Akkare Akkare Akkare). Besides, like he always does in Avial's concerts, in this video too Tony is dressed in a dhoti.
