Kunnimanikal. Finding the singer

The voice I wanted for this song was Mr M G Sreekumar's. I managed to get his cell number and called him. I was really really nervous. I talked to him for a little bit. I found out that at the time when I was going to be in India to record the songs, he was going to be in USA. I was hoping that, since he was going to be in US still when I came back, I would be able to record him here somehow. But his cell phone went unattended after that. I could not contact him anymore.

My brother suggested that Unni Menon might be a good choice. He has a great voice and is very versatile. Sure enough, Divya's cousin knew someone who knew him. He also happened to be my paternal uncle's good friend. To my luck Unni Menon was going to be in Kerala the next week. I booked a tentative time with him.

Unniyettan (I am fortunate to be able to address him that way) asked me to drop the song and lyrics at his studio the previous day. Maybe he wanted to make sure I was not some crazy guy who was going to make him sing something strange and ruin his career.

I met him in his own studio Aalap. I did not recognize him immediately. He was missing that signature beard. But what a quality guy he is. After that initial discomfort of meeting some one new, especially some one of his caliber, I liked him instantly. He had already copied the lyrics and tried to practice the song!

This was very different from my previous experience. He commented that this song was different and the lyrics were simple and touching. I felt good. He could have said the song sucked and I still would have been fine. I wa just happy to be working with him.

Uniiyettan is a hard worker. Very sincere and he does not compromise. Most artists work through the song line by line. But Unniyettan would sing a whole charanam in one stretch. If he did not like it, he will redo it all over again. Very little "punching in". The level of confidence and support that he gave me was tremendous. Here is someone who is super successful in the music Industry and he gave me the feeling that I had known him for a long time. I hope I will have the honor of working with him again.

He also offered his help to be part of the video for the title. Man.. if only I had the time and resources. I was in US already and there was not much I could do there. I still feel that a music video is best presented by featuring the singer.. than any actor.

Music videos.. Thats a whole different ball game. I'll explain the beginnings of that in the next blog.