CHENNAI: Classical musician-playback singer P Unnikrishnan and his daughter Uthara have come up with a Tamil version of the Happy Birthday song, which is going viral on the Internet. “It was lyricist Arivumathi’s idea. While he was abroad, someone asked him ‘Why does everybody sing Happy Birthday in English? Why not in Tamil?’ So we decided to do something about it,” says Unnikrishnan.
“We eventually approached the music director Arrol Corelli of Pasanga 2 fame, and did this song. The team wanted a child’s voice, so Uthara was roped in. She sang for Arrol in Pisasu (2014). I sung a few lines as well,” the singer added.
Co-incidentally, the song was released on July 9, Unnikrishnan’s 50th birthday! “It felt so good because everything fell in place. We recorded the song — which is one-and-a-half-minutes long — in my studio for about 45 minutes. We finished it about eight months ago, but got to shoot the video only now! Also, a couple of lines were re-written. The video has a few sequences like Uthara sitting on my lap. I saw them and got emotional,” he adds.
Up next, the father-daughter duo is working on a classical album, which has select kritis of popular composers. “If everything goes well, this will be our first Carnatic album together and I am looking forward to working on it,” Unnikrishnan smiles.