Anju Joseph’s Facebook page is flooded with messages from fans and well-wishers. For those who are finding it hard to recollect Anju, she was the third runner-up at the Idea Star singer Season 4, back in 2009. Here is how she is back in the limelight— Anju, along with her husband and fellow singers, has come up with an A cappella version of the hit song Dheewara from Baahubali.
The crew released the song on March 19 and the rest is history. Anju, after her stint with Star Singer had been busy with her studies and stage shows. “Well, there were plenty of stage shows after the reality show. I got to travel across the globe through these shows and lent voice to nearly 500 Christian devotional songs as well. In between, I focused on finishing my studies and got married a year ago,” says Anju.
Speaking about the A cappella version of Dheewara, she says, “I guess there are other A cappella versions of other songs from Kerala. But none were done on such scale or budget. We completely changed the arrangement. I chose this song because I found it very interesting and liked it right from the first time I heard it.”
So what is it about A cappella that she likes? “I’ve always liked acappella. There are these foreign bands like Pentatonix I literally worship. These bands have inspired me greatly. When I went to the US for one my shows, I happened to meet a local A cappella band. I spoke to them and got few ideas. Later my husband suggested Dheewara. All this had happened back when Baahubali had just released.”
Anju and her husband Anoop took the idea to music composer Mejjo Josseph. “Mejjo supported us wholeheartedly. He arranged the music after which we decided to use nine singers to create the A cappella version. Musician Sunil Kumar did the beat box for the song. He is not part of the video though. The girls who lent their voice are from the western music band of St. Teresas College. Recording an A cappella is time-consuming. We recorded nearly 50 tracks. After the recording session, it was time to discuss how best to bring it out,” explains Anju.
Anju’s husband Anoop John directed the video, with Sunil Karthikeyan as DOP. The video was shot over two days at Anakkayam, an unexplored location within Athirapally.
