“It feels surreal. Sometimes I wonder whether it is really happening to me…,” says Mohammed Maqbool Mansoor.
The song ‘Mukkathepenne’ from the heart-warming Ennu Ninte Moideen has put the backing vocalist-singer’s career on a new track and he can’t thank music composer Gopi Sunder enough. It was Gopi who took him under his wings four years ago and gave him the song.
“He is God-send,” says Maqbool. One would agree if you listen to Maqbool’s struggles waiting for a break in the music industry.
A native of Vallakkadavu in the city, Maqbool had an ear for music right from his childhood. He’s never had any formal training in music, but “was very serious about music.” In fact, along with a group of friends, he had formed Seven Bells, a band dedicated to A.R. Rahman’s music. The band was later dissolved and Maqbool moved to Chennai, with the idea to do a course in sound engineering and filmmaking.
“The classes didn’t excite me. So, I would turn up for classes only occasionally and that too to sing for some programme or other. It was a very difficult period,” he recalls.
A chance encounter with Gopi at a mall in Chennai was the first turning point in his life. “He called me to his studio for audition; it was my birthday. From then on I have always been a part of his team,” says Maqbool. Gopi gave him a few humming segments for several songs and the song ‘Jamna Pyari’ in Jamna Pyari . In the song ‘Rasoolallah’ from Salala Mobiles , Maqbool was featured along with Gopi. In between, he also got to sing in Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 and Malarvadi Arts Club .
‘Mukkathepenne’ is no less a miracle, he believes.
“We were working on the background score for Ennu Ninte Moideen at Gopi chettan ’s studio in Tripunithura. He wanted me to sing a few notations. As I watched the movie, I felt something special. Gopi chettan jotted down a tune and simultaneously I wrote the lyrics. There are certain things which are beyond our comprehension and it was one such moment. We never knew that it was going to become such an emotional hit,” says Maqbool.
Writing lyrics is not something new for Maqbool. He has written and sung ‘Aayiram kalamai’ composed by Rex Vijayan in Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi and very recently, ‘Pularikalo’ in the Christmas release Charlie . Ask him what lies ahead and the 28-year-old says he has many dreams. “I want to make a movie someday. Also, I want to sing some evergreen songs – at least, 10 of them…,” he says. One evergreen song down; nine to go…
