One song that trends on YouTube these days is the villadichan pattu sung by actor Nelson Sooranad for the movie Isakkinte Ithihasam, directed by R.K. Ajayakumar. The song ‘Gokarnathangu nine….’, taken in a single shot, happens in a police station where the character played by Nelson and his group perform the villadichan pattu, a traditional form of musical narration.
Nelson says it was a novel experience to act to the 2.14-minute song sung by him. “It was the director who insisted that I sing the song,” says Nelson, who crooned to the music of Gopi Sundar and lyrics of Aanikadan. “I did no rehearsal to sing the song. I got the details upon reaching the studio. Since the tune repeats as the song progresses, it was easy to grasp it.” The lead, chorus and dialogues in the song are rendered by Nelson. He is extremely happy to receive the positive feedback for his attempt.
The entire song takes place inside a police station where police officers, jail inmates and even petitioners dance to the beats of the song. Regarding the filming, Nelson says that they rehearsed the situation three times to get the idea right. “Then, the song was shot in two formats, and the second format was used. Cinematographer Sreenivas carried the camera that weights almost 18 kg around to shoot the song,” says Nelson, who appears as a vagabond in the movie. “He performs different acts every time. He sings, dances and, sometimes, recites poetry to earn money. Once, he gets an amount that has mysterious background, which takes him to police station. That is where the song happens,” says Nelson.
Siddique plays the titular character in the movie penned by Subash and R.K. Ajayakumar. The remaining cast includes Ashokan, Shajohn, Pashanam Shaji, Ambika Mohan, Geetha Vijayan, Bhagath Manuel , Sreejith Ravi, Kottayam Pratheep, Aristo Suresh, Zona Haidan, Abu Salim, Pauly Wilson, Nazeer Sankranthi, Jaffar Idukki, Babu Annur, Anjali Nair, Sasi Kalinga, Kunjumuhammad, Kalabhavan Haneef, Ajeesh Kottayam, Vinod Nambala and Manu Bhagath.
