KOCHI: Thirty-four years have gone since the naughty and vivacious Girlie enthralled us during a chilly Christmas season. Perhaps, as the title Nokkethadoorathu Kannum Nattu implies, Malayalis till then were longing for such a movie with a refreshing plot that endeared to the family audience. Girlie laughed, danced and conquered our minds before leaving the scene quietly. The song Lathiri Poothiri, where she made merry, lingered on and went on to become one of the most popular Christmas songs Malayalam cinema has ever produced.
“First of all, there’s a great Christmas-related sequence in the movie,” said music director Jerry Amaldev, recollecting the composing days with a gentle smile. Jerry Amaldev said: “If you’ve noticed, the Lathiri Poothiri song is a medley of some of the world-famous compositions and my own creations inspired by a couple of others. They’re dangled on a fine string of clear-cut, simple orchestration.”
Christmas, seemingly, brought good luck to Amaldev as it did to a handful of others who went on to captivate the Malayalis: Mohanlal, Shankar, Poornima and Faazil. All of them debuted, four years prior to Nokkethadoorathu, with Manjil Virinja Pookkal on a Christmas day. Since then, it has been a melodious journey for Amaldev. And all of them stand out for their richness.
“Manjil Virinja Pookkal was released on Christmas day. It didn’t make any initial pull as it had so many new names in important roles on screen and behind the camera. But, the producer Navodaya Appachan took pains to keep the movie in cinemas for the first one month and distributed its audio records to loudspeaker guys for free. And the film started getting word-of-mouth publicity and turned out to be a super hit,” said the 79-year-old.
As a youngster, Amaldev used to frequent church with his grandmother. Later, he went to north India in pursuit of priesthood and then the US to study Western music in depth. He conducts carols and attributes the shades of choir in some of his songs to his love for those chords which are believed to have originated in AD1500 and have been used in the churches of Kerala.
“People often mention Aayiram Kannumayi, again from Nokketha Doorathu. But Bichu was inspired by a Changampuzha poem and I used the Carnatic Roopaka Thalam. But the movie had a Christian theme and the comment stuck,” said Amaldev.
He considers the concept of Christmas lofty where “we connect with God and humanity is redeemed”. But Amaldev feels its spiritual value is being diluted, particularly by various business firms who, according to him, set the agenda. That makes him turn even more passionately to music, which to him has been the link to eternal truth.