Mollywood's Calendar boy makes it big in Tamil

Ever since he came mesmerising us with his soul-stirring tunes in Mollywood with a keyboard for magic wand, Afzal Yusuff has been Malayalis' own Calendar boy. Nevertheless, the 'songsmith' who transcended the barriers of vision became more of a newsmaker than a celebrity in those times.

Yet 2015 was a year he stayed out of the territory and hardly been asked why. When the pretty long 'holidaying' is over, Afzal is back with a bang announcing his maiden innings in Tamil, in the yet-to-be-named Kollywood movie of Mylanchi Monchulla Veedu director Benny Thomas.

Afzal is quick to reply about his sabbatical: “The absence was nothing intentional. I was in the discussion of several projects. Signed a few, but their take off got delayed. That was when Benny approached me with his movie. Composing jobs for the Tamil movie started in August 2015. I have four songs in it. Recording is over,” he says.

The latest from Afzal was Mylanchi Monchulla Veedu in 2014. In 2008, Afzal made his debut music direction in Chandranilekkoru Vazhi. He became the talk of the town in 2009 for his songs in Calendar to the lyrics of Anil Panachooran. He has worked with ten movies and was noteworthy for the works in Orange, Emmanuel, God for Sale and Parankimala.

So we are well aware of Afzal the composer, but little known is his one untold fascination with music. He has set his own compositions in a caller tune cycle and every time we ping, the song changes. “I have been doing this for a while when the songs are out,” he smiles.

In M-town, Afzal is ready with his next, another four in Theeram by debutant Shaheed Arafat. This movie is the first time he is trying hands on folk. “Only one folk song is there and all others are melodies. I am super excited as such an attempt is a first,” he smiles.

A romantic outing, the movie has been mainly shot in the locales of Alappuzha. Recording of two songs was held in Kochi and Mumbai.