Some of the best Malayalam films have been defined by their music. Mollywood is not short of music directors with immense talent who come up with a host of ways in which way music can make a difference to a film. Mejo Joseph knows how intrinsic the music track of a film is to elevate it to the next level. He may be soft-spoken in real life, but Mejo’s music is high voltage, with the ability to get our feet tapping.
He made waves with his musical score in his debut film Notebook and his latest work was for the Manju Warrier-starrer C/O Saira Banu. Currently, he is very excited about two upcoming projects, Varikuzhiyile Kolapathakam and Varthakal Ithuvare, in which he handles the music. In a rare feat, Mejo has managed to rope in American singer Grady Long to sing a Malayalam song for Varikuzhiyile...; yes, the very same Grady who was in the news for his rendition of the Malayalam song Aayiram Kannumai in front of the legendary singer K.J. Yesudas.
Incidentally, it was the director of C/O Saira Banu who pointed out Grady since he was a common friend. Mejo continues with the rest, “I heard him sing and felt his voice was very powerful. I had confidence in his singing abilities, so I conferred with Rejish, the director of Varikuzhiyile Kolapathakam, who gave the go ahead.” Mejo gave Grady the Malayalam lyrics earlier itself for him to memorise. The song is energy-packed and will be repeated throughout the film.
The recording of the song was held in a studio in Kochi and was completed in two days. Mejo cannot be happier with the dedication shown by Grady. “His Malayalam is good and except for one or two words, he got the pronunciation right. Grady used to get up as early as 4 am and start practising. He then recorded the song without even taking a break for lunch,” says Mejo. Grady’s wife Suja is a Malayali so that was helpful for him. The film also has a song rendered by Baahubali fame M.M. Keeravani, which is an Acapella song along with other singers like Shreya Ghoshal, Vaishnav Gireesh, etc. Varthakal Ithuvare is set in the 1980’s era with lyrics by Kaithapram, again another film he is looking forward to.
