THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Santhosh AS is on cloud nine. For years, he has been nursing the dream of singing in a movie. For the differently-abled, music has always been a passion. His maiden song, Kaarmekham Moodunnu, was released as a promo song of Suresh Gopi-starrer Kaaval in October. The movie was released in theatres on Thursday and having seen his name in the credits and as a playback singer, Santhosh is on a musical high.
When Santhosh was oneand- a-half years old, he was afflicted by polio. But nothing could dampen his love for music and while studying in the boarding school, he enrolled himself for music lessons. “I used to sing in ganamelas but I could never make it big. It was a dream to become a playback singer. It never happened when I was pining for the same.
But now, I got to sing in a movie and I am thrilled beyond words,” said an excited Santhosh. It all happened by luck. Santhosh was accompanying his wife Sangeetha N C as she appeared as a contestant in the TV programme, Ningalkkum Akaam Kodeeswaran. “My wife couldn’t make it to the hot seat with Suresh Gopi. But our story was shared and the video team had captured me singing when they came to visit our home,” he said.
And as his wife shared his dream of singing in a movie , Suresh Gopi, who hosts the show, readily offered to pitch Santhosh ’s case to filmmakers. That was back in 2019. But with the Covid outbreak, everything got delayed. And one fine day, Santhosh received a call to arrive at the studio in Ernakulam to render the song.
“I listened to the music only on the day of the recording. After listening to it a few times, I sang it in an hour,” said 39-year-old Santhosh who lives in Kazhakoottam and works in the IT sector. Since it release, the song has gone viral. “I am just grateful for the kind heart of Suresh Gopi who has made all these possible,” he said.