Perhaps one of the most forwarded videos on social media during this lockdown has been US President Donald Trump ‘singing’ Mappilapattu. In this video, which has got 4.25 lakh views on Instagram page, 'cuts.zzz', the president is depicted singing a traditional folk song of the Muslim community in Kerala, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, First Lady Melanie Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and thousands of people cheering him on.
The “mash-up video” features the filmi version of the popular Mappila song, ‘Aminathathede Ponnumolaanu’, from the Malayalam movie Honey Bee 2.5 , sung by actor-director Lal. The mastermind behind the video is editor-cinematographer-director Ajmal Sabu. With accolades coming in from the world over for his editing skills in creating the impression that Trump himself is singing those lines, the 24-year-old is on a high. The viral video has so far got over eight lakh views on Facebook as well.
“I didn’t expect such a reach for the video. I am getting messages from across India and even abroad,” says Ajmal over phone from his home at Changanassery in Kottayam district. He adds, “My professional commitments have been stalled due to the lockdown. So, instead of wasting time I thought of doing something interesting. I came across this song in a video my friend had sent me. I was hearing that version of the song for the first time and felt that I should put it to use somewhere. As the ‘Namaste Trump’ event at Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, was a much-discussed event, I thought of giving it a try. And it clicked!” says the 24-year-old.
Mass appeal
Ajmal started his Instagram page for mash-up videos two years ago and most of them have gone viral. There are over 50 videos on the page, with another popular one being American wrestler and WWE superstar Big Show and WWE’s chief branding officer Stephanie McMahon supposedly saying the dialogues of Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) and Ganga (Sobhana) from an iconic scene in the Malayalam movie, Manichitrathazhu .
- An alumnus of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics in Pune, from where he learnt animation, VFX and post production, Ajmal started out as a cinematographer with a Marathi film, Dhap . He was an assistant director in the Malayalam films Kappirithuruthu and Love Action Drama . He has also been a spot editor and is much sought-after in Malayalam film industry for making promo cuts, teasers and trailers of movies. He has directed short films and has done cinematography and editing in music videos, short films, documentaries and ad films.
- He is all set to turn independent as an editor and cinematographer with a Malayalam film. “If the lockdown wasn’t there, the shoot would have begun on April 10. It is a good project and I still can’t believe that I am doing it,” he says.
The first mash-up video he created was of the Joker-Batman scene from The Dark Knight with dialogues from Maheshinte Prathikaram , picturised on Soubin Shahir and Alencier. Among other videos that fetched lakhs of likes are those of Bruno Mars dancing to the tune of ‘Margazhiye malligaye’ from Megham , Rihanna’s video with the track of Popy umbrella ad, scene from Guardians of Galaxy with dialogues from Aniyathipravu and Modi’s speech at a rally with lottery announcement.
Ajmal says that there is no short cut to creating these videos. “It takes several hours to mix and match the scenes. I spent seven to eight hours on the Trump video alone. If you are taking a song or dance number, matching rhythm and steps are not that difficult. But the toughest part is lip sync. It is possible to experiment with all videos. However, you have to keep on trying to get the perfect match," he says, adding, “At the same time you shouldn’t compromise on humour.”
