Melody, mood and lyrics
SANGEETA
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Bombay Jayashri has lent her voice for a song in Shyamaprasad’s ‘Ore Kadal.’
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On a roll: ‘Ore Kadal’ has Bombay Jayashri singing ‘Pranaya Sandhyayoru Vin Sooryan’ set to Subha Panthuvarali.
The name and notes of Bombay Jayashri are not alien to music buffs of Kerala. The acclaimed vocalist has enthralled us with her classy Carnatic vocals and popular Tamil film songs. Although not very active in Malayalam playback music, Jayashri’
s has seen her acumen and aesthetics being skilfully utilised in a number of Malayalam films including films such as ‘Kudumbasametham’ and ‘Paithrukam.’ The sublime notes of brilliance are streaming into Malayalam again – set this time to a plaintive Subha Panthuvarali, in Shyamaprasad’s ‘Ore Kadal.’
“The best song I have sung in recent times,” says Jayashri. “The song ‘Pranaya Sandhyayoru Vin Sooryan’ is a poignant melody. It haunted me for days. I even cancelled some of my engagements while recording to remain immersed in the mood of the raga.”
Ouseppachan’s tunes
Apparently, all the songs in ‘Ore Kadal’ composed by music director Ouseppachan are set to raga Subha Panthuvarali.
“It must have been a challenge for him to fuse emotions into Subha Panthuvarali. I believe that every raga can reflect more than one expression, more than one mood. There are so many shades within the framework of an emotion. Wistfulness is the hallmark of this song. It portrays hope against despair – where one is mournfully expectant of a crucial situation. Rendering this was a beautiful experience.”
Although she had slight difficulties in pronouncing certain words, the director and the composer managed to get her diction right, says the singer. “They were kind enough to keep saying “not this na - the second na, the third ra not the first ra and so on,” she chuckles.
Her repertoire in Malayalam playback dates back to a lullaby ‘Neelanjana Poovin’ from ‘Paithrukam.’ ‘Kamalambike,’ ‘Pahimam Sri’ and ‘Tanha Tanha’ are the other songs.
“I have sung for ‘Kudumbasametham’ and ‘Daiva Namathil,’ both directed by Jayaraj. I remember watching ‘Paithrukam’ in Kozhikode. I had been there for a concert and was to get back by evening. So we left the theatre as soon as the song ended and headed straight to the railway station,” she adds.
“In fact when Harris Jayaraj called me, I mistook him for Jayaraj. Later I came to know that it was Harris, not Jayaraj and that it was for a Tamil film called ‘Minnale.’ The song he had composed was ‘Vaseegara.’ It was set to a different pitch initially. Harris then changed it to my scale, which is 5 1/2 and that gave that song its special quality. I never thought it would be a super hit. ”
This soulful solo become a super hit and had Tamil Nadu rocking to its tune for days together. The singer-composer duo went on to give other chart busters like ‘Ondra Rendra,’ ’Paartha Muthal Naale’ and ‘Unakkul Naane.’ Jayashri has also worked with stalwarts like Ilaiyaraja, M. S. Vishwanathan and A. R. Rahman.
“The task in film music is to strike a balance among melody, mood and lyrics. The essence of the song has to be brought into the words, notes and silences in between the notes - all the while sticking to the pitch. The best part of film song is that it is your baby. Nobody has sung it before.”
“Every sound, every musical note and every unmusical note – it’s all mine. I love doing that and I am very conscious of that happiness.”
Carnatic music, her love
Jayashri adds that she is choosy about the film songs she sings. She prefers to devote quality time to Carnatic music.
“It is almost impossible to pursue classical music along with film music. Both disciplines are different and equally demanding. I am more inclined and driven towards classical music,” she concludes.
But it looks like Jayashri will continue to weave her magic in film music. Her future audio releases include songs for composers Harris Jayaraj, Srikanth Deva and Dhina, all in Tamil.
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