Ballads of Angamaly

‘Theeyamme’ singer and Parichamuttukali artiste Angamaly Pranchi is on song in ‘Angamaly Diaries’

PP Francis a.k.a Angamaly Pranchi

Innale njan oru swapanam kandu... PP Francis sings in his rustic Angamaly slang, over phone. It is a folk song that he himself wrote and tuned. The 66-year-old Francis, better known as Angamaly Pranchi, is revelling in crooning for the first time for a movie, in

Angamaly Diaries .

Veteran performer

“I am a Parichamuttukali and Villadichampattu performer. Parichamuttukali is a Christian folk art form that is staged mainly during church festivals. Since I have been performing for a long time now, I am pretty well known in these parts. That’s how Lijo sir [Lijo Jose Pellisherry, director] and actor Chemban Vinod Jose, who scripted Angamaly Diaries , contacted me. They asked me to select and sing a few songs for the movie,” says Pranchi.

The peppy title song

Angamaly Geevarghese , rendered exquisitely by Pranchi, sets the tone of the tale that plays out in Angamaly. It is a popular Parichamuttukali song, which is traditionally performed during the Angamaly St. George Basilica festival.

Pranchi has sung two other songs - Theeyamme and Thana Dhina . The Theeyamme song, which he says is a modern folk number, had gone viral since its online release. “There are many songs like these that I grew up with. I know more than 60 such songs. They are often sung during parties or when Angamaly natives get together,” adds Pranchi. He recorded some 15 folk songs for the film, out of which four were selected.

As a native of Angamaly, Pranchi feels that the movie has captured Angamaly and its ways faithfully on screen, especially the food habits of the local residents. He watched the movie in Angamaly with director Lijo and singer Shreekumar Vakiyil. “They asked me to sing and inaugurate the show. It was a great occasion. I performed Theeyamme to a packed theatre,” he recalls with a chuckle.

Apart from being a talented singer and Parichamuttukali thespian, Pranchi is also a trainer of the art form. He has been training school children from schools in Thrissur and Ernakulam districts for the State School Arts Festival for years now. Chemban Vinod is one of Pranchi’s old students.