Why Malayalam music videos are in tune with the times during this pandemic

The pandemic may have temporarily brought the curtains down on concerts and musical gatherings, but it has not silenced musicians from Kerala. Some have been letting their creative juices flow through independent music videos, perhaps a fitting medium for creative expression for the times.

It is not just uplifting melodies or catchy tracks that have seen the light of the day but also classical compositions, whereas rap and hip hop particularly gained notice among the Malayali audience. While recordings can be done indoors, musicians say thematic videos too can be safely shot at home or nearby locations adhering to pandemic protocols and with a skeletal crew.

Playback singer K S Harisankar, who recently released his single 'Neela Mukile' says the pandemic-induced lockdown gave musicians like him "more time" to try new indie projects. "Recordings for film songs go on, behind the scenes for movies releasing, but I always like coming out with music videos, and the lockdown has lent me the space to experiment," he says. At a time when concerts are a no-no, the young singer feels it is paramount to mark one's "digital presence and stay live."

For him, being an independent artiste is as important as doing film projects. Harisankar feels another reason for more takers for music videos now is the change in entertainment consumption pattern. "These days, more people are staying at home and hence look for new content online, especially when there are so few movie releases even via OTT. Music fills that gap," he adds.

Carnatic vocalist N J Nandini concurs with Harisankar's view on the need for musicians to carve out a digital presence for themselves. She recently brought out a music video on erstwhile Travancore-era poet-composer Irayimman Thampi's Malayalam padam 'Chentharsayaka'.

"In music, just like in other creative domains, out of sight is out of mind. As artistes, we have to keep working and producing so that we do not fall between the cracks. Moreover, I believe, creative artistes cannot sit idle," she says. In the absence of concerts, creating music videos lends an element of "self-satisfaction", adds Nandini.

Others, like filmmaker Mridul Nair who recently released ‘Return — Taka thai tha’, feel that anyone would love to revisit a good song, some even playing them on loop. “Unlike a short film or similar content that usually stays in your mind only for the period you are watching it, a catchy songs linger in your mind longer and you may come back to it,” says Mridul. Composed by Manikandan Ayyappa and sung by Vineeth Sreenivasan, the music video features actors Sunny Wayne, Deepak Parambol Ganapathi S Poduval, Subish Sudhi among others.

Having the right platforms to showcase work in this digital age is another incentive for artistes. "During the 90s, there was a boom in independent music in India. But, later, it sort of contracted a bit, largely due to issues of piracy when the digital trend came in. It has now made a revival thanks to several legitimate streaming platforms and there's more support for indie artistes these days,” says playback singer Jyotsna Radhakrishnan. She recently released a soulful English track, ‘Coffee Mug’, on the pangs of love and featuring Purbayan Chatterjee on the sitar.

Written and composed by Jyotsna herself, ‘Coffee Mug’ is visualised in a no-frills 2D animation video. “I wanted to try something different with the video this time. Also, such a music video helps keep the voice in the foreground,” she adds.

Sithara Krishnakumar, who brought out or was associated with several independent music productions during the lockdown, says it has been a creatively productive phase for musicians. “Till then, we were going with the flow, focusing on film compositions. We all had time in our hands, especially those hours we used to spent travelling for recordings or shoots or shows. In spite of technical limitations and other practical difficulties, we adapted to the situation,” says Sithara.

Within a few days of the lockdown, her band, Project Malabaricus, came up with ‘Song of Valour’. ‘Chaayapaattu’ had musings on the lockdown written by Muhsin Parari, and then came ‘Priyane’. The latter, set to her own lyrics, was her first attempt at editing as well! “I downloaded new mobile applications and picked up several aspects of making music sitting at home,” she adds.

She also sang or collaborated in the independent projects of other composers, such as Gopi Sunder (‘Indumathi’) and Shahabaz Aman (‘Manassinte Madrassa’). “In the last four or five years, I haven’t sung so much of non-film compositions as I did during the lockdown. Everyone was stepping out of the film music zone,” she says.

In the past few years, rap and hip hop emerged on the popular scene in Malayalam. Tracks by rapper Hirandas Murali aka Vedan ('Voice of the Voiceless') and actor-dancer Neeraj Madhav ('Panipaali') went viral. Neeraj’s song video too was made in 2D animation, effectively using the genre for storytelling. "The Malayali audience has also become more open to diverse content. So there's a growing space for indie music. Of course, it has been there for a while but I think it is expanding now," says Neeraj, explaining why there are more takers for music videos now.

"Another reason why catchy music videos go viral is because they can simply be shared so easily, thanks to WhatsApp and social media," Neeraj points out.