The period movie Kaappiri Thuruthu released a few months ago dwelled into the musical past of Kochi not many are aware of; touches upon the life and contributions of yesteryear singer Mehaboob, draws inspiration from Mirza Ghalib’s words and recreates the rich music of the early 70s. The songs in the movie, especially the romantic melody ‘Cherupathil’ has an old world charm to it; and the credit goes to music director Rafeeq Yusuf.
Rafeeq’s tryst with film industry happened a few years ago when he was approached to compose music for the movie Mathilukalkappuram. “It was a movie planned around five years ago with actor Mammootty as a sequel to the movie Mathilukal. Unfortunately, the movie never happened. After that, I got the opportunity to work for Kappiri Thuruthu,” he recalls.
Interestingly, Rafeeq was initially approached for singing in the movie. “Basically, I am a Ghazal singer and was approached by director Saheer Ali to sing a ghazal composed by someone else. I guess that song did not click with Saheer and he asked me if I could take up composing. So, I took the lyrics penned by Mirza Ghalib and created a song for the movie. I was told that the situation was based in Delhi and felt his lyrics would suit the best.”
A still from Kaappiri Thuruthu.
Rafeeq shares about one of the biggest opportunities he had while composing. “I had taken up the challenge of picking out Mirza Ghalib’s words from the different ‘shers’ best suited for the film and could make my guru Pandit Ramesh Narayan sing it. I believe it to be my biggest blessing.”
Explaining more about composing for the movie, Rafeeq says, “The qawwali is the only song that is considerably ‘new-gen’; every other song is based in the 70s. So, all we can show from that era is the orchestration. While recreating Mehaboob’s songs, I wanted to do full justice to what I was creating; otherwise, we could have created a melody that fits today’s musical style. I have recreated the typical Kochi style of rendering I have heard as a child, and also ensured that the songs do not remain just within the Kochi crowd.”
