HYDERABAD: A stand-up comic, a cartoonist and now a singer — creative expression is an essential part of Anirudh Malladi. In an year that rang the death knell for live shows all over, he did not want the pandemic to win. The comic, who took up drawing cartoon strips during the lockdown, released his first two singles last month across 20 streaming services.
The music has been produced and arranged independently by Prathik Bendapudi of Liberty Electric Productions based in Hyderabad. The songs — ‘Chronicles of the Silent Night’ and ‘Wander’ are two continuous stories told from the first-person perspective. Speaking to Express, Anirudh said: “There are glimpses of my life in the songs. I wrote them seven years ago, but released them last year when the pandemic raised the questions that I had pondered about in my college years.
I am a self-taught guitarist and have been playing since the age of 14. My aim is to release an album gradually.” Talking about the songs, Anirudh adds: “The first song is about a frustrated person trying to find hope. It starts on a dark note, but the narrator eventually sees the light at the end of the tunnel. ‘Wander’ is about the innate fear that success is never guaranteed.
There are many artists who never saw fame in their lifetime. I explore this theme and try to understand the unpredictability and fickleness of success.” This automobile engineer from Manipal University discovered his comic side in college. “I once saw my cousins watching a comedy show on TV. I was fascinated by how a man telling jokes kept the audience under a spell.
By that time, I was already looking for ways to avoid studying. This idea appealed to me and I started taking part in events.” One of his earliest gigs was hosted by the renowned comedian Papa CJ, Till now, Anirudh has performed in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Warangal and other cities. He laments that the Covid-19 pandemic showed up just as the stand-up comedy scene in Hyderabad was getting warmed up. “We have a talented bunch of comics here.
We were slowly making progress and the art circuit was beginning to look like the ones in other cosmopolitan cities. However, with the pandemic, live shows took a severe beating,” adds Anirudh. He did not take part in online shows as he misses the connection with a live audience. In the meantime, the artist started expressing his ideas in the form of comic strips. During the lockdown, he taught himself to draw and made strips which have humour and sarcasm in equal measure. “It is high time that Hyderabad had a permanent venue to host stand-up comedians. I hope things start looking up slowly,” he adds.
— Kakoli Mukherjee kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com @KakoliMukherje2