Up-and-coming singer Kaanjana Sreeram is en route to making her mark as a musician. This Deepavali, she released a cover version of the Tamil track, ‘Kannamma’ from the movie Rekka and is elated by the positive response to the video featuring her.
“It was a dream-come-true moment for me. The song, sung by Nandini Srikar and composed by D Imman, is close to my heart. I thought the track would suit my voice texture. Besides, I haven’t heard any cover version of the song,” says the 22-year- old, now pursuing her post-graduation in music from Department of Music, University of Kerala.
Kaanjana says that she is aware that cover versions aren’t a novelty on the music scene any more. “Yet, I decided to do one because it was the best platform to showcase my voice and thereby create my identity as a musician,” she says.
Initiated into music at the age of five by her grandmother Lalitha Gopalan Nair, Kaanjana has taken training from many eminent musicians, including Palkkulangara Ambika Devi and Perumbavoor G Ravindranath. She is currently learning Carnatic music from B Arundhati and Hindustani music from Abhradita Banerjee.
Kaanjana says that her father, G Sreeram, who made his playback debut at the age of 52 with the song ‘Kaatte kaatte’ in Celluloid after being in the music industry for so many years, inspires her as a musician and a person. “Playback singing was never his aim. He wanted to be a good musician and that’s what he wants me also to aim at,” she says. Kaanjana has sung in the movies Chitrakuzhal (2010), Kaviyude Osyathu and Guppy [the track, ‘Hridayaraga thanthri’ from Amaram ].
Even as she hopes to get a space in the film industry, Kaanjana also wants to focus on Carnatic music. And her greatest wish is to give a wider reach to her paternal grandfather Cherthala Gopalan Nair’s compositions.
“He has left behind a treasure house of soulful compositions. But even those musicians who render his compositions at concerts don’t know that he had composed them. Be it ‘Karunacheyvan’, ‘Aliveni’, ‘Bhajabhaja manasa’ and ‘Adimalarina’.... So I want to give him his due as a musician,” she says.
