Abi Rap!

Nobody, who admires films from the golden age of Malayalam cinema, can forget the character of Thaatha or Abi who brought the character to life. Thaatha is a common presence in mimicry and films with her quick wit. The same Thaatha has revamped his style by singing Ummachi rap for Sarath A. Haridasan’s movie Salala Mobiles. La la lasa..., the promo song of Salala Mobiles has become a hit on YouTube with more than 4 lakh views!

Abi, who sang the rap song says, “It was totally unexpected. When I reached the studio, Gopi Sundar, the music director asked me to create a rap for the song. I was totally blank. After sometime, out of the blue a Mappila song by Moyinkutty Vaidyar that my grandmother used to sing popped in my mind. That inspired me to do the rap.”

It was one of his first professional music ventures. Earlier, he used to write for his troupe. Though he got a warm response for his reincarnation of Thaatha, Abi doesn’t want to remain in the shadow of this character.

His main grouse is that some industry people are purposely ignoring him despite realising that he is talented. “Some mainstream people are ignoring me. At the same time newcomers are offering  me chances. I am confident about my talent. I know that I can handle various roles. I have given life to more than 25 characters. Thaatha is only one of them,” he says. He will be seen next in the movie Koothara directed by Srinath Rajendran.

Abi has indulged in mimicry while performing with his troupe. According to him, the current mimicry shows are really musical comedy shows. Importance must be given to music all the time. Ask him about turning singer like other actors, Abi says, “I don’t have a voice for singing.  Though I admire music, I am not planning to venture into music. Instead, I want to play some good character roles. I hope my time will come soon!”