Just three years and a handful of movies, yet it seems Aparna Balamurali has been here for a long time. As Jimsy from Maheshinte Prathikaram, she walked into the screen unnoticed and unpacked her bundle of talents. She first won us over with her acting and then with her sweet voice. It seems her first song, Bijibal’s composition, started the winning streak. The latest release Sunday Holiday marks her fifth movie as a singer; this time with a song composed by Deepak Dev.
“It was so cool working with Deepak ettan,” says Aparna, adding, “The movie had four songs, all rendered by male singers and the makers felt it would be nice to have a female voice. Since they knew I sing, I was offered the chance and I grabbed it. I was very tense about working with such an experienced musician for such a beautiful song. But he was very encouraging and said I sang like a professional. That was a precious comment, coming from a musician of his stature.”
Still from Aparna’s latest movie Sunday Holiday.
Without anybody noticing, Aparna crooned five melodies, including one in Tamil — all under different composers.
The Maunangal song was followed by Thennal nilavinte composed by Shaan Rehman in Oru Muthassi Gadha, Vinnil theliyum by Anand Madhusoodanan for PaVa and now Deepak Dev’s Mazha Padum, the duet with Aravind Venugopal. The Tamil one ‘Mannippaya’ was from Ettu Thottakal, which marked her Kollywood debut as an actress. Laughing, she responds, “I have been very lucky. Singing Tamil was a tad difficult at first, but slowly I got the hang of it and it went well.”
Music is in her genes. Her dad and mom are musicians. She has been learning music since childhood, first under Suma Pisharody and now under Karthika teacher. How does she rate herself as a singer?
“I am not at all satisfied. I have a long way to go. My dream is to perform as a live singer without the help of any techniques used during recording,” she shares.
Music apart, she has two movies coming up — Thrissivaperur Kliptham and Sarvopari Palakkaran. In Sunday Holiday, which has opened to positive reviews, she plays Anu, an independent woman, opposite Asif Ali.
Movies have changed Aparna’s life a lot, especially in terms of privacy. “I know it is people’s love, but you won’t always be in a mood for selfies. As a human being, you too have mood swings and sometimes say ‘no’. People might take it as arrogance, but that’s not the case,” she states. But there is one place where she is totally at ease – her college in Palakkad where she is a third-year
B. Arch student who hangs out with her gang of friends. “There, I am just like any other student, not an actress,” she smiles.
