The tone of ‘guru-shishya’ relation was distinct during the audio recording for the children’s music album ‘Muthumozhikal’ in the city on Tuesday. The lines of thespian Kavalam Narayana Panicker were enlivened by the voice of actor Nedumudi Venu and the tunes of Kavalam Sajeev.
Eight poems in the collection ‘Kakkathollayiram’ by Narayana Panicker were picked for the album of which two full-length songs were sung by Nedumudi Venu. Tapping his fingers to the rhythms and suggesting improvisations, Narayana Panicker was present throughout the recording in the studio.
For the Narayana Panicker-Venu duo, whose teacher-student relation dates back to more than 40 years, this was just another reason to unite.
“There would be some reason or the other for us to have a get-together. If no such special occasion falls, we would simply celebrate a ‘birthday’’’, said Nedumudi Venu, smiling.
Once used to this kind of singing during his active presence in theatre, Venu felt a bit apprehensive while doing it after a long time, yet enjoyed the freedom. The tunes adhered to the rules of classical music, though set in a folk song style. “One advantage of folk song is that it gives a freedom for the levels of ‘bhavam’ that cannot be reached while singing in the rules of classical music. Still, it is not out of tune,” said Narayana Panicker.
The brainwave of making an album out of the poetry collection was Kavalam Sajeev’s idea. “From the very initial stage, I had a clear idea on how the album had to be made. There were also plans to make actor Jagannathan sing for the album, but he passed away before the recording could happen,” said Sajeev.
The teacher-student relation (that they call as leghu-guru relation) gets a double reinforcement with Narayana Panicker, his son Kavalam Sreekumar, Nedumudi Venu and Sajeev singing together for another song.
In the music album, two songs will also have videos and the shooting is planned at Kavalam. The album will be marketed by Art Faktory, Experience the Entertainment and Kavalam School of Music.