Susie’s Fab Five | Tribute to Dr PB Srinivas

Credit : DNA

Songs in my earliest memory consist of my parent’s favourites – KPAC Drama songs, and movie songs by Kamukara, Dr PB Sreenivas and AM Rajah. Though I am a diehard KJ Yesudas fan, I have always had a special place in my heart for the songs of Dr PBS.

Susie’s Fab Five | Stories as Songs for Children

Sarada and Baby Sumathi in Nadhi (1969)

Children love stories. It is a great way to calm them down after a hectic day, and to get them to eat, or to get them to sleep. As a child, my Mum and my older sister told me stories, be it from the Bible (Mum), or from literary classics like Jane Eyre or the Count of Monte Christo (adapted deftly to a five-year-old’s level of understanding by my sister). It would be told in instalments every night, and much like a reality TV show of today, would finish for the day frustratingly at the most interesting and suspenseful moment – “The rest tomorrow” (ബാക്കി ഇനി നാളെ).

Susie’s Fab Five | Odes to our Universe and its mystic beauty.

From time immemorial the Universe has always fascinated man.  He wrote, sang and wove dreams about it. He strove to conquer it. { Quoting Captain Kirk from Star Trek “Space: The final frontier…..to boldly go where no man has gone before!“    In Malayalam movies, Vayalar reigns supreme among lyricists who expressed this fascination with poetic brilliance; the others are there, too, but some way behind. Here are some of my favourites.

Susie’s Fab Five | Songs of the Wandering Minstrel

On the journey of life, we pass through several roads – darkness and light, winding roads and straight, over land and sea. A lifetime, searching for that elusive something, perhaps even the final destination.

Susie’s Fab Five | Songs that assert a Second Chance

Pix Courtesy : Remigiusz Szczerbak

A second chance at life and love – the hope of reconciling after a quarrel, or the unexpected blossoming of a new romance, the optimism of the human psyche is eternal. There are many such songs in Malayalam cinema.

Susie’s Fab Five | Songs that make you Smile

Comedy interludes have been a staple of commercial Malayalam cinema from the beginning. Many of these scenes were picturised as songs. I have not seen many of these songs, because in those days, radio was the only way for me to listen to songs. Many of these still bring a smile to my face even today. It is only recently that I have seen, through Youtube clips, the actual scenes which belonged to those classic songs.

Susie’s Favorites | Songs of Separation from Malayalam Films

The pain of separated lovers, and their desperate longing for each other have been the subject of poets and lyricists for centuries. Visual media like cinema brought popularity to these, and people empathised with the emotions. Cinema is almost always a reflection of real life. While passing through the mind of the poet, the lyricist, the musician, the singers, the actors, and the cinematographer, this  intense feeling of the pain of separation gets stamped with their individual interpretation.

The Sathyan Tribute | Ravi from Mooladhanam (1969)

All the characters Sathyan played on screen were of strong men, all imbued with the special “Sathyan” touch which made them unforgettable. Most roles were, in my memory, tragic. However, one memorable character that he played, with the story ending on a positive note, was in Thoppil Bhasi‘s Mooladhanam (meaning Capital, as in Wealth). The story is based on Thoppil Bhasi’s own life experiences as a Communist Party worker during 1944-1946, of the sacrifices he had to make, in order for the mass struggle against the unjust rule of the Diwan be a success.

Susie’s Fab Five | Songs on the Travails of Women

In life humankind faces many situations; life in general is fraught with trials and tribulations. In Malayalam films such situations call for a heart-rendingly sad song sequence. Women and men seem to face adversity with different mindsets. From a woman’s perspective, almost always someone is to blame.