It’s been a week since the demise of Malayalam music director M.G. Radhakrishnan.

Image Courtesy: mathrubhumi.com

Brother to singer M.G. Sreekumar, Radhakrishnan was a stalwart in the Malayalam Music scene. His tracks had the simplest of tunes. Yet, they would capture every bit of your aural presence and take you to another level. The down-to-earth music director started-off composing music for the All India Radio. After the success of many songs he pioneered for the radio (including a popular radio show teaching music for listeners), he was invited to do the music for the Malayalam movie ‘thampu’. Soon, offers came pouring in, and Radhakrishnan churned out mellifluous tunes for many movies including ‘Manichitrathazhu‘, ‘Agnidevan’, ‘Devasuram‘, ‘Advaitham’, ‘Ananthabhadram‘, et al. He’s bagged the state award twice for ‘Achaneyanenikkishtam’ and ‘Ananthabhadram‘.

I’ve forever been a fan of the musical maestro. I find immense solace in some of his tracks, in times of despair. My favourite MG track is ‘Sooryakireedom‘ from Devasuram – a haunting song that talks about the transcience of death and the uncertainity of life. The news of M.G’s death came a day late to me. M.G. is one of my favorite Music Directors, right after Raveendran. I actually had plans to interview M.G. for the papers, and a friend had even given me his contacts. In that context, the news of his demise pinned me down with despair and shock.

I could not help but offer my tributes to the maestro who has continue to amaze me with his tracks. Here’s my cover a favourite M.G. Track.

Song Name: Vande Mukunda Hare.

Movie: Devasuram (1992)

Singer: M.G. Radhakrishnan

Vande Mukunda Hare | Music Codes

The video of this song has Oduvil Unnikrishnan‘s character (Peringodan Shankara Marar) bids his adieu to buddy Mangalasseri Neelakantan (Mohanlal) – A feudal landlord,who stands wounded and decapitated after an ambush. Marar can’t bear the sight of watching his once-healthy mate now in tatters. The lyrics of the song make references to mythology: Kuchela is bidding goodbye to Lord Krishna, who meets death by a stray arrow after the destruction of Dwarka.

Rest in peace, Radhakrishnan Sir. I know I haven’t done justice to your original rendering, but I’ve tried my best here. We’ll miss you!

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1. New York Nagaram!
2. Papa kehte hain, bada naam karega!
3. Lafzon Mein Keh Naa Sakoon!

Last night, I was pursuing some long procrastinated work. The job was quite tedious and I had to sit up late into the night to get it done. As always, Amarok was blaring my favourite songs through my Creative 4.1, while I worked away. I’m in love with the Amarok shuffle algorithm – it beats the shits out of every other audio player in the market, even iPod/iTunes player, for that matter. My recently acquired the habit of putting all songs on shuffle comes from using Amarok – the song selection is eclectic in the best possible way. Hats-off to the community for the brilliant work on the music player!

It was roughly 2 AM in the morning, and I still had miles to go before I sleep. Nevertheless, I saved my files, switched off the monitor and flopped onto my bed, with music still on – albeit in low volume. It was time to call it a day. The ending notes of “Wish you were here” were fading away, probably taking cue from my sleep-deprived eyes. I’d almost slipped away into the valley of deep slumber when the Floyd song had concluded.

That was when Amarok decided to do a back-flip.

The psychedelic notes of Floyd gradually crossfaded to early-nineties jazz beats – complete with trumpets. Any Floyd fan would die for an encore of the favourite track – hence, the crossfade proved jarring to my ears. Enraged, I woke up with a start and rushed to the keyboard to plus the “Ctrl+V” shortcut for the next song.

I stopped, midway.

The jazz beats gave strong deja vu. The trumpets, the generous use of nineties’-electronic guitar; it was one song I thought I’d never forget – yet, I couldn’t place it fully. I sat down on the bed, as my head lowered itself involuntarily, as my mind raced through the portals of my long-term memory, in search of the track. (I could easily have walked upto the monitor and switched it on to check the track out, but somehow, I didn’t.)  That was when the jazz beats paused momentarily, and a resounding male voice ensued.

The same voice that muttered “Aal izz well!” – the voice of Aamir Khan! I listened in silent recognition, involuntarily smiling in the process, as I listened to Aamir’s (famous) monologue from his debut-movie “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak”:

Doston (Friends),

Aaj college ka aakhri din hai, (Today’s the last day of college)
aur aane waale zindagi ke liye sabhi ne kuch na kuch soch rakha hai. (And all of you would’ve thought what to do with the rest of your lives.)
Lekin maine apne liye kuch nahin socha hai! (But I haven’t done that!)
No, really I mean it.
Aur aaj, aaj mujhe baar baar, ek hi khayaal aa raha hai… (And today… Today, I this thought repeatedly comes back to my mind…)

As Udit Narayan‘s voice took over from Aamir to sing the rest of “Papa kehte hai bada naam karega…” (My dad’s told me that I’d be famous.) - I couldn’t help lip-sync and sing the entire song, prancing about the room – in elation and goosebumps!

As the song concluded, I realized that I was smiling incessantly. I felt so ironic and overjoyed. Turns out that even I’m at the fag end of my college life, and I’m still at crossroads regarding what to do with the rest of my life, while the people around me have more or less zeroed in on their futures.

And the best part is, there used to be a time, I emphasize, there USED TO be a time, when my ‘Papa’ used to constantly reassure me that I’d have a “bada naam” in life!

Not having a clue about life used to bug me big time – it used to inculcate this huge wave of depression in me. Having already chosen the wrong career option three years back, and struggling to escape from it, I couldn’t make another mistake with my life – this fact used to plague me badly. Constant thoughts about careers barraged my mind with needless anxiety and I was confused. Even though I’d reached an interim conclusion about the career that I’d (hopefully) be pursuing post-B.Tech, the daunting task of preparing myself for it still scares me – considering the fact that I’m a habitual procrastinator afflicted by the ‘lazybones-syndrome’.

But this song, made the confusion seem ‘fashionable’ and actually inspiring. The first stanza of the song literal translates to: “My dad reassures me that I’d do well in life, but I’ve no clue where I’d end up.” But unlike Aamir Khan, I don’t have an inspired, teary-eyed dad watching his happy-go-lucky son sing glory about his long lost father’s belief in his capabilities. In my case, well, circumstances (many of which were self-made) made my dad openly retract his assurances, which is the worst thing a dejected son/daughter could get. But the song kindled sweet, long-lost memories of doting-praise and patient, endearing-encouragement – I got my much-needed recharge!

Perhaps, my dad was watching at a singing-dancing me through my room door’s peephole, silently-inspired, with tears welling in his eyes!!

P.S.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…
The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives,
Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

- From Baz Luhrman‘s Sunscreen

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Song: Lafzon Mein Keh Naa Sakoon

Original Artist: Abhijeet Sawant

Album: Aap Ka Abhijeet Sawant (2005)

Download

Dedication:

This song is dedicated to someone special – someone very special and close! My love for her can’t be expressed in words, neither can I exist without it being mentioned. What better way could it be put across, other than, through a song?

If you’re listening to this dear, I just wanted you to know that you’re THE best! Love ye! >:D<

P.S.

This is the first song I’d sung at college. I still vividly remember singing it for the fresher’s day in 2007! So, I’ve a special attachment to this track. Kudos to Abhijeet (who is incidentally the first winner of Indian Idol, in 2005)  for this super-awesome song! \m/

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I’ve always been a fan of ‘Avial’ the Mallu Rock band. Here I’m singing an awesome song of theirs – ഞാന്‍ ആരാ (Who Am I). Please listen and comment.

Song: ഞാന്‍ ആരാ | Njaan Aara.

Original Singer: Tony Joseph

Music & Performed by: Avial

P.S.

There’s some problem with my Blog, as a result of which this post got auto-deleted. I guess there’s some server upgradation going on with my web host. Some of you had commented in this post and apparently those comments too have vanished into thin air along with two other posts. Please excuse!

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Yet another song by yours-truly.

Readers Note: This is going to be a series. Yeah, I’ve officially started audio blogging in this blog! There’s going to be a new page on this blog listing all audio posts. For the time being, all audio posts will just be songs, but soon I’d be talking about stuff I write here or even more, perhaps. So, happy listening!

Song: Kya Mujhe Pyaar hai

Singer: KK

Movie: Woh Lamhe

Music Director: Pritam

Ripped off from: Tak Bikasah (Peter Pan)

Download/Listen | MP3 Link, 128 kbps. File Size: 3.99 MB

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1. A Song!
2. iSing – again! :-)
3. Tribute to M.G. Radhakrishnan

It’s been a long time since I did an audio post. Since I’m totally out of time to write stuff, I thought an audio post will suffice to add on to my posting-frequency.

Like last time, it’s a song, as the title of the post inexorably suggests.

Song: “Parayathe Ariyathe“
Singer: Me (Duh!)
Movie: Udayananu Tharam
Language: Malayalam
Music Director: Deepak Dev
Original Artists: Dr. K.J. Yesudas & K.S. Chithra

I’ve a huge attachment to this song. This song, actually talks of Love and Loss. The protagonist in the movie, Udayan (Mohanlal) is badly missing his estranged wife (played by Meena). The lines are soulful, poignant and imploring enough to bring tears into the eyes of a dedicated listener. The song used to be my ‘quantum of solace’ during those post-break-up and post-crush-bust days. It still gives me goosebumps!

Alright, the song was recorded in a jiffy, and I’m not exactly a pro-singer. There are tonnes of mistakes! So, please bear with me. Yeah, there will be more audio posts (not necessarily songs) in the future. So brace yourselves, readers!

Comments are welcome.

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Well, if you never knew, let this post be a revelation. Yeah, I’m a singer! I’ve been singing to my heart’s content since God knows when. With four years of training in Carnatic music and loads of prizes under my belt, I’d daresay, I’m passably good at it. Wanna test my prowess in music? Just click the download link below and listen to my song. (If your browser starts playing it, right click the link and select the option “Save Link As”.)

The song’s ‘Tum Se Hi‘ from the Hindi movie Jab We Met.

Download! |MP3 Link (48 kbps) Filesize: 1.45 MB

Me performing at LA Fest 2005 (if the song wasn’t enough testimony )

The song struck a chord with me right when I heard it first in the movie’s promos. There’s a soulful aura all about it. Especially the lines: poignant and imploring! People usually get bored with a song after they hear it for say, five or six times. It was exactly the reverse in my case! I still get goosebumps when I hear the song! It’s virtually a favorite now.

A screenshot of my Winamp Media library: I’ve heard the song 212 times!

Hope I’ve not actually murdered it (aw, I’m not THAT bad a singer!). Do listen and comment.

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1. Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai
2. iSing – again! :-)
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