‘Podimeesa mulakkana kaalam…’. goes Anand Madhusoodhanan’s caller tune. Naturally, for the song is the young music director’s calling card in Mollywood. The folksy song, one of the six numbers in Pa. Va (Pappanekkurichum Varkiyekkurichum) , releasing on July 22, has been on top of the charts since its release about two weeks ago.
Playful, simple lyrics loaded with images perfectly capture the growing up years in ‘Podimeesa mulakkana kaalam…’. while the music makes it easy for anyone to hum along with it.
“That was the intention when I tuned the song. I knew that unless people could sing the song or sing along with it, the song would not catch on.”
It helped that Sooraj Tom, director of Pa.Va , and lyricist Santhosh Varma are Anand’s friends and they have been working together in ad films and jingles. Their friendship paved the way to Anand becoming the music director of Sooraj’s film. “I was in a comfort zone. Once I composed the music, I played it for Sooraj and he liked it. It was then that I requested Santhosh to write the lines to suit the score,” says an ecstatic Anand.
Apparently scenarist Ajeesh Thomas has a flair for drawing and so his script was accompanied by sketches that gave a clear idea of the scenes in the film. That helped Anand while scoring the music. Anand’s brief was to compose a feisty song with a humorous touch.
Sung by veteran P. Jayachandran, ‘Podimeesa mulakkana kaalam…’ is a break for the young music director. He cherishes his interaction with Jayachandran during the recording when the veteran singer told him that the song’s music reminded him of K. Raghavan’s compositions. “My initial nervousness vanished once Jayachandran sir heard the music. He looked pleased and said that it had the makings of a hit for the singer. He wanted to know if he could improvise or if he had to sing it in the way I had composed it. I requested him to sing it my version with his improvisations. Once he began recording he got into the groove and did not even have lunch until the recording was completed in the evening,” gushes the 28-year-old.
It was a challenge for Anand because the film covers different periods of time and the music and voices had to be in sync with that. “The music had to travel with the film. That is why I turned to Minmini, the voice of ‘Chinna chinna aasai’, for a song that reminds us of the Eighties. Similarly Murali chettan ’s (Murali Gopy) song, ‘Innu njaan pokum’, needed a rendition that was in tune with the lyrics. You know, it does not have a beat,” explains Anand.
The songs in the film prove that Anand is a versatile music director. If Rafeeq Ahamed’s ‘Innu njaan pokum’ resembles a dirge that reflects on the passage of life, ‘Kalyanam…’, rendered by Minmini and Nithin P. K. and supported by a chorus could not be more different from the profound ‘Innu njaan’. Newcomer Swarna sings ‘Dey ennatha’.
At present, the Kochi-based musician is immersed in scoring the background music of Ranjith Shankar’s Pretham , which is likely to be released in the second week of August. It is an encore for Anand who made his debut in tinsel town as music director of Ranjith Shankar’s Molly Aunty Rocks . Weeping Boy , Mathai Kuzhappakaaran Alla and Malayettam (which won the Kerala State award for the best children’s film) followed but his works were not heard often in the deluge of music churned out today. “Sometimes the films did not click, sometimes the movies were such that it did not have much scope for music. Whatever the reason, my compositions did not really help me find a space in cinema.”
Anand seems to have used that period to streamline his music and the result can be heard loud and clear in the six songs of Pa.Va .
“Jayachandran sir advised me on what is necessary to keep going in the music industry and I hold that close to my heart. He told me that one has to work hard and keep learning and improving constantly. His is the voice of experience and no matter what anyone says, nothing can replace experience. That counts,” believes Anand. “Experimentation is the key to success and I hope to keep trying new ideas in music,” says Anand before signing off to resume his work on Pretham . Looks like more haunting music is on the way!
