While the melancholy track from Poomaram, ‘Kadavathoru Thoni’.., on a dying river and a lifeless country boat, is topping the charts this week. And, there is no mistaking the happiness in music composer Leela L Girikkuttan’s voice. “We knew the song would be a hit.
But, didn’t expect it to go viral like this,” he says. As of now, the song has reached 11 lakh viewers. However, Girikkuttan says he had fears on whether the song would be able to surpass the bar set by Poomaram’s first track ‘Nyanum Nyanum Ennallum’ song, which was released in November last year.
“Abrid Shine and Faizal Razi were confident that we could do the song. However, I was a bit apprehensive because the standard set by its predecessor was too high,” said Girikkuttan.
However, a few hours after the song was released, first-time lyricist Ajeesh Dasan who penned the song, received a phone call from a fan. “I am calling you from the banks of the Bharatapuzha. Thank you for echoing what I am feeling.
The river is dying and you just nailed it with a strong message through your beautiful song,” the caller said. “We knew then that the song was here to stay for sometime,” said Girikuttan.
The composer, who is visually challenged, says that his journey has been different, but he is glad that there is no dearth of opportunities which helps nurture the artist in him. “My family has been very supportive. My guitar is my best friend and I have been singing and composing music for a very long time,” he adds.
First-time lyricist Ajeesh Dasan was working at a book stall before love for poetry and songwriting took over his life.
“This is how I met Girikuttan. We began meeting up on a frequent basis to compose songs. It was at a poetry installation that scriptwriter Rajesh Varma noticed us. He referred us to Shine, who was willing to try his luck with us,” said Ajeesh.
The duo started working on the song six months ago. “In the song, Kalidas Jayaram is participating in a
poetry competition as part of the Youth Festival. Shine told us that the poem needs to be on a river. The Bharatapuzha, where the scenes were shot, inspired me to write the poem, but the lyrics are definitely applicable to all rivers in the world,” said Ajeesh.
He adds that the people loved the song because it had a strong sentiment associated to it.