This story is from June 29, 2016

'Kavalam was all smiles while we tuned his last song'

'Kavalam was all smiles while we tuned his last song'
Late theatre legend Kavalam Narayana Panicker had been undergoing dialysis during the last days of his life but that never deterred him from completely involving himself in what he was passionate about ' penning lyrics. His final songs were written for director Rajeevnath's upcoming movie Babysitter.
Its music director M Jayachandran tells us that the poet and theatre director had penned two tracks ' 'Cha' Cha' Chakkakuruve' sung by Job Kurian and 'Hey Diddle Diddle' by Mamta Mohandas ' for the film in April this year in spite of being weak due to his kidney-related ailments.

'Kavalam sir was undergoing dialysis. So, the only time we would get to work with him was during the breaks between the dialyses. I was initially sceptical about the entire arrangement but director Rajeevnath said if we could have his input in the songs, it would be beautiful. I also didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to work with him,' Jayachandran says, adding that the two songs are playful rhymes.
While 'Cha' Cha' is entirely written in Malayalam and is in sync with Kavalam's style of lyrics, the music director informs us that 'Hey Diddle Diddle' starts with English verses and 'is not a typical song that people
have come to expect from Kavalam sir'.
'It's about a mom trying to cajole her toddler through stories and actions,' he says. 'Though Kavalam sir was weak, when we sat for the song, he was smiling like a child. Every time Rajeev requested for a line to be changed, Kavalam sir would come up with two or three other options. He even coined a few words for this song.'
Jayachandran says that he was honoured to work with Kavalam once again after teaming up with him first for Bharathan Effect in 2007. 'I couldn't spend much time with him then. But for this film, we had long discussions and composed with him. I also played it back to him for his feedback. He really liked it,' says the National Award-winning music director, about the legend who has penned songs for movies including Amen and Manjadikkuru.
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