Dreams do come true. Kailas Menon would know it better than anyone else. He aspired to make it big as a composer when he was in school. His composition, Jeevamshamaayi… from Tovino Thomas-starrer Theevandi is still on top of the music charts, although the song was released five months ago. The much-delayed release of the movie has not taken the sheen away from the melody. “It has taken this long and there have been several setbacks, but the wait was worth it. Almost every day I get to hear a new cover version of the song. Now that the film is in theatres and is running successfully, the number of views on YouTube are touching staggering figures,” he says. A veteran of ad jingles, Kailas says that Fellini T P, director of the movie, wanted him to compose a song that would last. “This was not the tune that I had scored first. It had a modern flavour and everyone in the crew appreciated it, except for one of the producers, Shaji Nadesan. That’s when I made this particular tune and the entire team enjoyed that as well. Finally, we had to reach a consensus and went ahead with the second tune,” he says. Kailas is fulsome in his praise of lyricist Harinarayanan. “We communicated only over phone. After he listened to the track, he was so excited that he told me that the song would definitely be a hit. We had our doubts about the word ‘Jeevamshamayi’. But Harinarayanan said that it was the first word that came to his mind on hearing the tune. Till the eve of the song’s release, many of us in the crew felt that we were taking a huge risk by using such a long word. But it worked and how!” gushes the composer. High on melody The song has been sung by Harisankar and Shreya Ghoshal. Kailas was inistent on using their voices for the song. “Although we were doubtful about getting Shreya on board, everything fell in place and we recorded her voice in Mumbai. As for Hari, I noticed his voice after he sang Nilamalatharikalail... from Kismath. I have enjoyed his cover versions of various songs as well. He is trained in classical music, but has that ability to bring a light touch to his songs. There is a confidence in his rendition, which comes from training and I wanted that for this song,” Kailas explains. Harisankar K S | Photo Credit: Special arrangement Another song from the movie that has gone viral is Theeppettikum venda… sung by Antony Dasan, who crooned Gabrielinte... in Guppy and the viral track Sodakkumele... in Thaana Serndha Koottam. “I composed the tune after seeing the visuals. I enjoy the process of working according to the visuals. I guess that comes from having worked for long in ads. The lyrics by Manu Manjith is simple and so I wanted a voice that stood out. That’s how Antony came in,” he says. Job Kurian has sung the track Tha Thinnam... and the title track has been sung by Kailas and Alphonse Joseph. “What really worked in my favour was that we had a fabulous team. There was a positive vibe and that has reflected in my work,” says the 33-year-old. Looking back Kailas can’t thank enough his parents who stood by his decision to take up music even though there are no musicians in his family. There has been many setbacks. Ten years ago he had composed three songs for the movie Kerala Police, but they “couldn’t be included when it released”. Then he tuned songs for Starring Pournami (2013), which starred Tovino and Sunny Wayne. But the film couldn’t be completed. “My friends say that songs of Starring Pournami are much better than the ones in Theevandi! I may use it in some future project,” he admits. Fact file A native of Thrissur, Kailas brought out his first album, ‘Snehathode’, at the age of 16. He studied visual communication and sound engineering in Chennai. After finishing his course, he worked as a sound engineer for Gopi Sunder. He has done recording for composer Ousephachan and has over 1,000 jingles to his credit. He runs a recording studio, Octaves, in Chennai. On a happy note Harisankar, who comes from a musical family, is elated that Jeevamshamayi... has turned out to be the biggest hit of his music career. “A singer has to get his identity in the industry and I am pleased that people have started recognising me. Kailas was very clear about the song and gave me the freedom to improvise. The song is based on Reethi Gowla raga and raga-based songs are rare now. Kailas gave it a traditional touch,” says Hari, who has sung in movies such as Ennum Eppozhum, Anarkali and Kismath.

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