Shyam is best described as the composer who ushered in the avant-garde in Malayalam film music. With his signature songs of the 80s like ‘Devadaroo poothoo’ that redefined romantic melodies and the sassy disco number ‘Oru Madhurakkinavin’, Samuel Joseph aka Shyam altered our musical sensibilities. Having trained under western classical exponent Dhanraj Matser, he infused our film music with an invigorating western stylistics. He also perfected the theme music genre with the inimitable scores for Irupatham Noottandu, ‘Oru CBI Diary Kurippu’ and its sequels and the like. Fans of the ace musician can look forward to a fresh bouquet of songs from him after a long hiatus. His music album, ‘Lavanya Geetham’ featuring debutant Sneha, will be released on November 28. Teaming up with him in the project is long-time associate Poovachal Khader, with whom he has created hits like ‘Pomanamey’.
All songs in the album are rendered by the budding artist, a student of class 10 bsed in Chennai. The visualisation of the album is spun around a family that unwittingly falls pray to the trappings of social networking sites. The songs will help communicate the theme, while retaining the all-time classy flavour of the Shyam ouvre.
“Sneha is a very talented singer. Her training in classical music will go a long way in expressing herself better as a playback singer. In fact, watching her sing reminded me of K S Chitra and Sujatha as young girls,” says Shyam. His compositions helped shape the career of many a singer in the industry. Unni Menon made his debut in Malayalam with Shyam’s songs for the movie Kadathu - ‘Olangal Thaalam Thullumbol’ and ‘Punnaare Poonthinkale’. In the 80s, the Shyam-Bichu Thirumal collaboration worked magic in Malayalam film music with songs that cut across all genres.
“I have had the opportunity to work with the most talented lyricists of the time, right from P Bhaskaran, Chunakkara Ramankutty, Sreekumaran Thampi, Poovachal Khader and Bichu Thirumala. Each had his own working style. When it came to writing words for a tune, I think Bhaskaran Master and Bichu Thirumala exemplified the art. They were amazingly quick to come up with musical lyrics that blended perfectly with the tune.” The songs from the musical-romance Daisy comes to his mind first when talking about setting the tune first. “Bhaskaran Master wrote those songs after I had composed the music. I believe the poetry in the lines is a remarkable feat.” Indeed the title song is sure to figure among Malayalam’s best-loved melodies, both for the music and the heartwarming lyrics.
Shyam likens the ideal musician-lyricist chemistry to that of a husband and wife’s. “There’s no place for ego. There has to be complete understanding between the composer and the writer. If the tune is set first, the composer gets an upper hand, just as the writer is more at liberty when the lyrics are put down first. Either way, the willingness to make adjustments is the key factor,” he says.