KOZHIKODE: What brings Kerala and Brazil closer? You don’t have to think twice to find the answer. Yes, football! The fans in Kerala are as passionate about the Brazilian team as much as the natives of Brazil. Besides, the FIFA World Cup 2014, which is being hosted by Brazil, has given Kerala a festive look too, with festoons, banners and flex boards supporting different teams in every nook and cranny of the state.
Kerala’s connection with Brazil does not end here, as a Malayali youth has composed a tribute song for the World Cup, that too in Brazilian Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.
Amal Antony Agustin’s ‘Wow Gol Brasil 2014 Tema da copa’ has already become popular on Youtube with more than 15,000 hits. The song exhorts the world to unite in the name of football.
The lyrics of the song were written by two Brazilians, Elliz Rocha and Luana Thoreserc and composed by Amal Antony. It has been sung by Amal along with Elliz. These passionate musicians met on the cyber space, to be more specific, on a Facebook group called ‘Spring Tunes.’
Spring Tunes is a platform where musicians and music enthusiasts from different parts of the world share their opinions and ideas. Elliz Rocha is a teacher and a gospel singer from Igarassu in Brazil while Luana Thoreserc is a lyricist and writer from Sao Polo. The video, which was directed by Luana, was shot in Brazil and partly in Thrissur. Rafael Marcos Jesus took care of the editing.
“We began work on the song around three months ago. It took some time for me to study the language. I did a lot of research on Brazilian music. Neil Nascimento, another Brazilian and a member of Spring Tunes helped me,” said Amal.
“My Brazilian friends also helped me learn Brazilian Portuguese and also correct the pronunciation, through Whatsapp and Skype,” he added. The discussion that started on Facebook developed through the Whatsapp group ‘Goal Brazil’ and Skype, through which they shared audio and video files. Their end product, now on YouTube, is winning accolades from both India and Brazil.
The album has already become popular in Brazil with the Igarassu government promoting the song on their official page.
The Mayor of Igarassu, a city in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil, has also shared the song on his official page. Recently, TV Clube, a Brazilian TV channel, telecast a news item on the song, interviewing Amal, Elliz and Luana.
“We received appreciation from here too. Singers Franco and Gayathri called to congratulate me.
“I was so thrilled when famous Carnatic flautist Kudamaloor Janardhanan called up to tell me that the work had impressed him,” says Amal.
Amal, a native of Thalore in Thrissur, is a familiar figure among Malayalis as a playback singer. Starting from the hit number ‘May masame...’ from the movie ‘My Mother’s Laptop’ directed by Roopesh Paul, he has sung for a number of movies including Asuravithu, Swapanam and London Bridge. He was also included in the first round nomination for the Oscars, for a song in the film Saint Dracula directed by Roopesh Paul. He came into the limelight after winning the 2006 edition of Gandharvasangeetham, a music reality show telecast by Kairali channel.
The 29-year-old Amal is a trained classical vocalist and a teacher at the RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Tripunithura.
With a Bachelor’s degree, PG and MPhil in Music, he has not stopped learning and is currently being trained by A E Vamanan Namboothiri. He has also received training in piano and western music from Fr Thomas Chakalamatath of Chetana Music Academy, Thrissur.
Buoyed by the success of the album in Brazilian Portuguese, the team released an English version too, with the support of Spring Tunes.
The lyrics were written by Suja Rachel Joseph, living in the United States, and Manual Joseph.
Besides Elliz and Amal, Anugraha Raphy has also lent her vocals in the English version. The videography was done by GVM Studio, Thrissur.
The team of Amal, Elliz, Luana and Neil has decided to continue their collaboration and are already working on their new project- this time a romantic song. They are also planning to form a band.
The songs can be viewed on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHkC3GeIiEo (original version) and https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=zPJIHSbWvTE (English version).
