They were classmates and Aby Jacob was well aware of Vinod’s fascination with films. So when Vinod decided to direct a film there was none happier than Aby. Naturally, the duo began discussing about the film and its various facets. When Aby narrated some of his Russian experiences, Vinod let on that he was planning to incorporate a Russian song in the film. Aby, a software professional, had spent three years in Moscow before settling in Thiruvananthapuram. When Vinod asked Aby if he could help out with translating the lyrics of the Russian song, Aby agreed to help his friend.
That translation turned to rewriting the lyrics in Russian and that is how the IT professional became a lyricist for the film Malgudi Days. The song begins with the lines Nyepredskazuuyemaa which means unpredictable and Aby mentions that it is a song with a philosophical tinge echoing the unpredictability of life.
Aby recalls, “Vinod had already decided on using this song because it gelled perfectly with the corresponding movie frame; moreover music has no language. The original song is a Bulgarian classic love song but had to be modified to suit the Malayalam scenario.Since I knew Russian, it was not very difficult to understand Bulgarian since both are Slavic languages with similar nuances. Still I referred a lot of texts and consulted many of my Russian friends to get the exact meaning of the lyrics.” The music of the original song was done by Stoyan Ganev.
It was easier said than done. Aby went through a lot of writing and rewriting before finalising on the final Russian words. Aby explains, “Vinod has bought the copyright of the song so we had the tune, knew the meaning and then wrote the lyrics in English, put in the music and then converted it to Russian but I was not satisfied so I consulted my Russian friends again and they gave me variations which I incorporated according to the tune.”
Aby was not happy with the way the lyrics shaped up and thought it went overboard and since it was the first time he was taking on the role of a lyricist, he had to add and delete many a time before locking down the final version.
Aby enjoyed the experience though he found the rewriting tough. He still remains an IT professional but let’s on, “This happened out of the blue but I do not mind giving a shot at lyric writing if I get any offers.”
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