Back in the 1960s, when Vayalar Ramavarma, P. Bhaskaran, and O.N.V. Kurup reigned supreme as lyricists, it would have taken exceptional courage to even dream of becoming a writer of film songs. One young man dared to dream.
Sreekumaran Thampi has written more than a thousand songs - many of them among the biggest hits in Malayalam cinema - and he continues to write, nearly five decades after he penned his first song for Kattu Mallika . He turned 75 on Monday. But the songs he penned are ageless.
The majority of Thampi’s songs came in the 1960s and 70s, the golden age of Malayalam film music, when gifted composers such as G. Devarajan, M.S. Baburaj, V. Dakshinamoorthy, K. Raghavan, M.S. Viswanathan, and M.K. Arjunan created thousands of melodies.
He worked with all of them but it was his partnership with Dakshinamoorthy that produced more hits. Some of his finest songs, such as Hrudayasarassile … ( Padunna Puzha ), Ponveyil manikkacha … ( Nruthashala ), En mandahasam … ( Udayam ), were composed by Dakshinamoorthy.
M.K. Arjunan tuned even more of his songs. Their combination too gave us some classics, such as Yadukula rathidevanevide … ( Rest House ), Nin maniyarayile … ( CID Nazir ), and Kasthuri manakkunnallo … ( Picnic ).
Most of Thampi’s songs have been about love but he is also remarkably good at expressing philosophy in most poetic ways, as he proved with songs such as Sukhamoru bindu … ( Kadal ), Swanthamenna padathinenthartham … ( Mohiniyattom ), and Chirikkumbol koode … ( Ithu Manushyano ). Thampi has also been a successful director, scriptwriter and producer but his first love was poetry.
“I wrote and directed films because I wanted to,” he said. “My gift was in poetry.”
P.K. Ajith Kumar
