Sreenath Sivasankaran won’t be in town to bask in the revelry when Oru Kuttanadan Blog (OKB) hits screens tomorrow. That was not to be the case as the Mammootty-starrer was originally slated for an Onam release and had to be postponed due to the floods. “Being a movie buff, I’m someone who loves to catch films, first day first show. But I have an upcoming stage show in Ireland that I had already committed to,” says the 27-year-old.
But the crooner from Palakkad has no regrets as he has “already done his very best” for the movie, which marks his début as a music director. Sreenath, who shot to fame in his late teens through reality shows, is making a comeback of sorts with OKB after years on the sidelines. “After the reality show days, I was still very much involved in music, having done innumerable stage shows, both within the country and abroad. There were times when I went in search of ‘chances’ (laughs). Today, I’m chuffed to bits about this big break,” Sreenath says over phone from Kochi, where he currently resides.
A runner-up of the Star Singer’s 2009-10 edition, the MBA graduate says he started learning classical music from a young age. “I don’t really play any instruments actually but I have a keen understanding of their technical side. I have never been part of any music bands either. But, even as a child, I think, I had an ear for music and a sense of rhythm,” he says, citing the chenda and the guitar as his favourite instruments.
Sreenath Sivasankaran
It was his habit of “making up random situations and fashioning suitable scratches” that stood him in good stead and finally landed OKB in his kitty. Good friend, actor Unni Mukundan, introduced Sreenath to OKB’s director Sethu (of Sachi-Sethu screenwriter duo) last year, who was pretty impressed by some of the scratches he had done. “Sethu chettan gave me a few situations and asked me to try them. He loved the result and made Mammookka listen to them, who too gave a thumbs-up to my tunes. That was the green signal I had been waiting for,” reveals Sreenath, his voice bubbling with excitement.
OKB features five songs, each “suiting a different mood” in the movie. Elampadi elelo..., a groovy vanchipattu with thumping beats, turns out to be Sreenath’s favourite too. “ Vanchipattu is pretty common and so we brought in a dose of freshness to the beats to make the song stand out. For this, I merely followed the visual cues Sethu chettan provided to capture the essence of Kuttanad and the spirit of vallam kali (boat races),” he says. He also lent his voice along with Ranjith Unni ( Jimmikki kammal... ) for the number. The composer even tried his hand at lyrics with “the comic song on jilted love” Charathu Nee... , crooned by Unni Mukundan. “That was just for the heck of it. We have seen before that Unni can ace it as a singer,” he says with a chuckle. The other numbers were penned by Rafeeq Ahamed, Hari Narayanan and newcomer Shinson Poovathingal.
Listing ace composers such as Johnson, Raveendran and AR Rahman as his inspiration, Sreenath says he doesn’t try to distinguish between Eastern and Western music as he is at home with all genres. Having grown up in Palakkad, he’s adept at speaking Tamil too and names singer-composer Anirudh Ravichander as a favourite among music directors of his generation. “That’s the heights I now aspire to reach,” he signs off.
On his playlist
Sreenath lists Enthinuveroru sooryodhayam... ( Mazhayethum Munpe ), Kandu njan mizhikalil... ( Abhimanyu ) and AR Rahman hits Nila kaigirathu... ( Indira ) and Uyire... ( Bombay ) as some of his all-time favourites songs
