If asked where it all came from, Malayalam television’s Mr Funny Bones, Biju Sopanam, has an answer in his name itself. The Uppum Mulakum fame has a reputation for deadpan and rib-tickling the masses. Has anyone heard him sing? Biju, an alumnus of Kavalam Narayana Panicker’s Sopanam theatre, has just pulled from the hat this less-famous skill of his in a mash-up album of Kavalam songs and Justin Bieber’s Cold Water. He has sung along with Veena Haridas. Within 24 hours of the YouTube release, the song earned close to 20K views and counting.
A team, built from contacts through friends of friends, reached Biju in no time. Praveen M. Kumar, who co-produced the work says, “Just after a few hours of the release did I realise how popular he was. From many different parts of the world, Biju’s fans watched the video and most of them happily volunteered to promote it. I, myself being a fan of his performance in Uppum Mulakum, had no other choice of a singer. He had agreed to act in the album, but we insisted he should sing too,” says Praveen. Veena, his childhood friend, was approached initially. From there, they brought together the team.
The album has intricately woven together three songs. Only those familiar with Kavalam songs can pick Karukare Karmukil... from within the lyrics predominated by Aalayal Thara Venam...The credit goes to music producer Jayasoorya S.J.
“The thought of being different is there, of course. It did not take much preparation for the singer, for he knew the lyrics by heart that he had learned straightaway from Kavalam sir,” says Jayasoorya.
This is also the first step of the producers — Praveen and Aravind Kurup — before they hit the bigger aim, a movie. But why an album with Kavalam songs? Praveen answers, “Our intention was to find a song to strike a chord with Malayalis. Aalayal Thara Venam... is easily recognised by many,” he says.
The scenic locales in the video are from the precincts of Vellayani Lake in Thiruvananthapuram, Munambam, Cherai, and Kaloor in Kochi. Graphics are also incorporated into the work. Lekshmi V.K. is another actor in the album directed by Rahul Dev. K.S. Sanju has handled the camera.
