The name of the game is success
K. PRADEEP
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Prathapchandran has changed his name to V. Devanand to make a name in the Malayalam music industry.
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PHOTO: H. VIBHU
CHANGE OF LUCK: Playback singer V. Devanand.
Malayalam film songs are at a premium these days. For the young singers, who have chosen this as a profession, every move counts. But there is nothing more disappointing than having your song attributed to someone else. And one singer who has been desperately switching names to try and break this jinx is Prathapchandran. He has now christened himself V. Devanand.
Mistaken identity
The first time this singer realised there was so much in a name was when his original name Prathap began to be identified with that of Vidhu Prathap. What caused a lot of heartburn was when his super hit duet `Karimizhikuruviye kandilla... ' with Sujatha from the film `Meesa Madhavan' was credited to another singer in many leading newspapers and magazines.
"I was heart broken when I read that. The film credits and the audio album had the name Prathap but somehow it led to this mistaken identity. I decided to change my name to Prathapchandran. But as time went by new singers with similar sounding names added to the confusion. So I decided to change it to Devanand," says this singer.
This change seems to have changed his luck. Offers have begun coming his way. Devanand has sung in two recent films, `Anachandham' and `Classmates.' "The two songs have been well received. Now this new name needs to be established. It is so important that people like your songs. Mere number of songs will not do. You need to have hits to survive."
Devanand has always had to struggle in this competitive field.
"After being trained in Carnatic vocal by my father Vaikom Vasudevan Namboodiri, encouraged by my wins in the Kerala University Youth Festival, I began singing tracks for P. Jayachandran and Unni Menon. They were all devotional tracks. During this period I sang 10 songs in an album `Shivam,' composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy sir. A chance to sing for music director Sharath, in another album, took me to Chennai where I settled down. That was the beginning of a long slog," recounts Devanand.
Devanand got his first big break in the film `Pranayavarnangal.'
"It was Dasettan (K.J. Jesudas) who introduced me to Vidyasagar sir. That was the turning point. I sang a group song with Padmakumar, Sreenivasan and Hareesh Raghavendra. The song beginning `Alelo pulelo... ' was not the best but was definitely heard. Before this I had sung a song for the film `Oru Maravathur Kanavu' but it went unnoticed. Since then I have sung in almost all of Vidyasagar Sir's films."
That initiation did a world of good for the singer. "The training with him did me a lot of good. The corrective measures he suggested helped me. Very often when it came to Malayalam he did not understand the meanings of many words. But he had that gift to give the words a fine feel."
Dileep's voice
Devanand's voice was soon identified with that of Dileep. He was this actor's voice in films such as `Meesa Madhavan,' `Rasikan,' `CID Moosa,' and `Pandipada.'
"Lal Jose decided to make a change when it came to `Chanthupottu.' In fact, it was Lal Jose who gave me my first solo `Amma nakshatrame... ' (`Randaam Bhavaam'). This song is there only in the film. In the case of the song `Annakili... ' from the film `4 The People' it was exactly the opposite. I sang the whole song; my name was there in the titles and in the audio album. But when the film was released and `Lajjavathi... ' became popular Jassie Gift's voice, which was also recorded, was included in the film."
Strangely, however, even before he became popular in Malayalam, Devanand was quite a rage in Andhra. His debut in Telugu `Aandam,' a Ramoji Rao production was a bumper hit. Devanand is willing to wait for the right song.
"Despite all the struggle, I 'm fortunate to have worked with some renowned music directors. Singing is my profession, the only one I know. If things go as of now I'm satisfied."
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