Poetry of music
K Pradeep
|
Poet turned lyricist C. Ramachandran is working on an album of Malayalam ghazals.
|
Ramachandra Menon: Exploring rhyme and rhythm. Photo: Mahesh Harilal
Unlike most childhood fads this is one fad that did not fade away. In the beginning, it was writing poems that were supposed to be read. Gradually there was this desire to have them set to music and sung. The poet, C. Ramachandra Menon was evolving into a lyricist.
"I must have begun writing poems when I was in class eight . All those thoughts, images, and colours that crossed my mind found expression in words. When I was a student, I even tried writing short stories. It was a usual thing those days for writers to use pseudonyms and I did the same. A few of my poems and stories were published in some of the leading Malayalam magazines under the pseudonym R. C. Changkarath. Of course, this also gave me the comfort of anonymity," says Menon.
Anthology of poems
His first significant work while he was a student was an anthology of poems on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru `Yugaprabhavan.' "This was intended as a tribute to Pandit Nehru and was written soon after his demise. I won't call them poems. They were actually songs that could be easily set to tune."
Years after these ventures and a great deal of literary output, including the award-winning collection of poems `Kalathinte Akshayapathram,' Menon is now in the final stages of completing work on what is his dream project. "An album with 12 of my Malayalam ghazals is tuned and ready. The music is by Aziz Bava, son of legendary singers Gul Mohammed and Sara. They have turned out very well. Some of the leading ghazal singers of the country will lend their voice to this album. More on this when it is ready."
Earlier, Menon had penned the lyrics for two devotional albums `Sreemadhavam' and `Ragamai,' which had music by the noted veena exponent Ananthapadmanabhan. "Perhaps what gave me a lot of exposure and satisfaction were the musical features that were aired by All India Radio. I did four of them, `Janani Janmabhumi,' which was an entry to the national-level competition, `Chinganilavu,' both with music by Vamanan Namboodiri and two others, `Onavillu' and `Chempaneerpookal' with Ananthapadmanabhan." Apart from this, AIR has aired more than 150 light songs written by Menon .
Like so many lyricists, musicians, singers and actors, Menon's debut film too did not see the light of day. "The film `Veerasrinkala,' had music by T. K. Layan. There is one song in this film beginning `Charuthe shilpa charuthe... ' that Jesudas sung so well." Menon also wrote one song for the film `Grandmother,' a duet by Renjini Jose and Vidhu Pratap.
One of Menon's works, `Hiranmayavathil,' a screenplay that was published in a local daily in his hometown of Thrissur, has evoked interest among a couple of film makers. "This screenplay is about industrial unrest.
Discussions have already been held and hopefully it will be accepted."
Menon, who after working for many years in Mumbai and the Gulf countries, is now working as a general manager with a private firm in Kochi. He is now immersed in his first novel and three more audio albums. But it is the ghazal album that Menon is pinning his hopes on.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
