KOCHI: In the era of K-pop and rap, a father-daughter combo from Kochi is proving that music knows no generation gap. Rony Philip, 52, and his daughter Leah Anne Philip, 18, have been winning hearts with their performances, bringing together people through music.
Their cover of the evergreen Malayalam song ‘Penninte Chenchundil...’ with its distinct folk flavour has recently surfaced on social media. While the rendition invoked mixed responses, they are keen on reviving such old numbers with a refreshing touch in the coming days.
A resident of Pachalam, Rony is an alumnus of St Albert’s College. His music career began with the band WRENZ, one of the earliest college bands of Keralam.
“Music is my passion and there is no generation for it. When Leah was born, we never trained her intentionally for music, but she seemed to have a natural rhythm in her. She learnt to play the keyboard on her own. Though she trained in classical dance, she gradually turned towards singing,” says Rony, a proud father.
This father-daughter duo wants to take their music around the world. For the past three years and more, they have been performing at venues across the state. They have rendered more than 300 songs, both originals and covers, connecting people of all ages.
“We never felt the generation gap,” avers Leah, who is pursuing BBA at St Albert’s and is also into modelling.
“Whatever I suggest, he (Rony) usually agrees to. Even if he has a disagreement, we think it over and accept whichever is good for the performance. In most cases, we think alike.”
Despite belonging to different generations, the father and daughter share a common favourite — Michael Jackson.
“We are inspired by the kind of music he left behind,” Leah says.
As a band, they perform original songs composed by them along with the most famous cover versions of songs in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and a few foreign languages.
For Rony, his daughter’s passion for music has never come at the expense of academics.
Given that his wife, Meera Philip, works in Dubai, Rony says Leah manages the situation well. And most of the shows usually happen during weekends.
Rony has also lent his voice to songs in ‘Masterpiece’, ‘Alone’, and ‘Ithihaasa’ while Leah sang in ‘Ben’, ‘2 Penkuttikal’, and ‘Luka’. ‘Neeye’ is their latest music album, released earlier this year. Other singles and albums include ‘Enne Ariyan..’, ‘Doore’, ‘Never Enough’, and ‘Maveli Bro’.
They plan to launch a new original album titled ‘Neeli’ in 2027.
