Music of Kerala
Encyclopedia
The Music of Kerala
has a long and rich history.It is not the same as malayalam poetry
although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music
.Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature
, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE
. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala
can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry
was developed long before prose
. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it. The most basic branches are classical music
which is primarily Carnatic music oriented, and popular music
which includes film songs and album songs. Then there is music like chenda melamwhich is quite popular.
Malayalam poetry to the late 20th century CE It is very unusefull data. varying degrees of the fusion of the three different strands. The oldest examples of Pattu and , , are Ramacharitam and Vaishikatantram, both of the twelfth century.
is musically known for Sopanam
. Sopanam is religious in nature, and developed through singing invocatory songs at the Kalam
of Kali
, and later inside temples. Sopanam came to prominence in the wake of the increasing popularity of Jayadeva
's Gita Govinda
or Ashtapadis
. Sopana sangeetham (music), as the very name suggests, is sung by the side of the holy steps (sopanam) leading to the sanctum sanctorum
of a shrine
. It is sung, typically employing plain notes, to the accompaniment of the small, hourglass-shaped ethnic drum called idakka
, besides the chengila or the handy metallic gong to sound the beats. Sopanam is traditionally sung by men of the Marar and Pothuval
community, who are Ambalavasi
(semi-Brahmin) castes engaged to do it as their hereditary profession. Some famous sopanam singers are Neralattu Rama Poduval
, Janardhanan Nedungadi and Damodara Marar.
Kerala is also home of Carnatic music
. Legends like Swati Tirunal, Shadkala Govinda Maarar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar
, Yesudas( Jesudas), Palghat Mani Iyer
, Vidwan Gopala Pillai, Chertala Gopalan Nair, M. D. Ramanathan
, T. V. Gopalakrishnan
,Sankaran Namboothiri and T. N. Krishnan are renowned musical exponents from Kerala. Among the younger generation, child prodigy violin wizard L.Athira Krishna and Carnatic vocalist P. Unnikrishnan have made their musical impact in the international arena, thus keeping the regal tradition of Carnatic music alive.
Kerala also has a significant presence of Hindustani music as well. The king of Travancore, Swathi Thirunal patronaged and contributed much to the Hindustani Music.
of Kerala
had a linear development along with classical music
of the region, till the branches separated. The popular music in Kerala is enriched by its highly developed film music branch. Other forms of popular music include light music
, album
s otherwise known as Mallu Pop. Devotional songs also constitute a major part of Malayalam popular music.
The song conducted by the pulluvar in serpent temples and snake groves is called Sarppapaattu, Naagam Paattu, Sarpam Thullal
, Sarppolsavam, Paambum Thullal or Paambum Kalam. The main aspects of this are Kalamezhuthu (Drawing of Kalam, a ritual art by itself), song and dance.
. Even though most of the songs are set in ragas based on the microtone-heavy Carnatic music, there is a distinct style of plain-note rendition, which is known as the Sopanam
style. This typically Kerala style of rendition takes its roots from the temple songs which used to be sung (continues even now at several temples) at the time when Kathakali was born.
, the language is not heavy sanskritized Malayalam and the lyrics are set to rhythms that range from simple to rare and complicated.
population had developed a signature music stream based on the Hindustani style. The stream consists of a variety of forms like gazals and mappila pattu, and also music for authentic Muslim dance forms such as oppana and kol kali. The poetry forms a main part of this stream of music, which is primarily in Malayalam with the use of Arabic words in between which is known as arabimalayalam. Mappila songs have a charm of their own as their tunes sound a mix of the ethos and culture of Kerala as well as West Asia. They deal with diverse themes such as religion, love, satire and heroism.
, forms the most important canon of popular music in India. Film music of Kerala in particular is the most popular form of music in the state. Before Malayalam cinema
and Malayalam film music developed, the Keralites eagerly followed Tamil
and Hindi
film songs and that habit has stayed with them till now. The history of Malayalam film songs begin with the 1948 film Nirmala. The film's music director was P.S. Divakar and the songs were sung by P. Leela
, T. K. Govinda Rao, Vasudeva Kurup, C. K. Raghavan, Sarojini Menon and Vimala B. Varma, who is credited as the first playback singer of Malayalam cinema.
The main trend in the early years was to use the tune of hit Hindi or Tamil songs in Malayalam songs. This trend was changed in the early 1950s by the arrival of a number of poets and musicians to the Malayalam music scene. People who stormed into the Malayalam film music industry in the 1950s include musicians like V. Dakshinamurthy (1950), K. Raghavan
(1954), G. Devarajan
(1955) and M.S. Babu Raj (1957) and lyricists like P. Bhaskaran
(1950), O.N.V. Kurup (1955) and Vayalar Rama Varma (1956). They are attributed with shaping Malayalam film music stream and giving it its own identity. Major playback singers of that time were Kamukara Purushothaman, K.P. Udayabhanu, A.M. Raja, P. Leela
, Santha P. Nair, P. Susheela
and S. Janaki
. Many of these singers like A.M. Raja, P. Susheela and Janaki were not Malayali
s and their pronunciation was not perfect. Despite that, these singers received high popularity throughout Kerala. In later years many non-Malayalis like Manna Dey
, Talat Mehmood, Lata Mangeshkar
, Asha Bhonsle and S.P. Balasubramaniam sang for Malayalam films. This trend was also found among music director
s to an extent, with outside musicians like Naushad
, Usha Khanna
, Salil Chaudhary, Bombay Ravi and Ilaya Raja. This can be attributed to the fact that film music in South India
had a parallel growth pattern with so many instances of cross-industry contributions.
K.J. Yesudas, who debuted in 1961, virtually revolutionised the Malayalam film music industry and became the most popular Malayalam singer ever. He became equally popular with classical music audience and people who patronised film music. He, along with P. Jayachandran, gave a major facelift to Malayalam playback singing in the 1960s and 1970s. Malayalam film music also received heavy contributions from musicians like Johnson
, M. G. Radhakrishnan
, Raveendran
, S. P. Venkitesh and Ouseppachan
, lyricists like Sreekumaran Thampy, Yusuf Ali Kechery
, and Kaithaprom Damodaran Namboodiri, and singers like M. G. Sreekumar
, G. Venugopal
, K. S. Chithra
and Sujatha Mohan
. A notable aspect in the later years was the extensive of classical Carnatic music
in many film songs of the later 1980s and early 1990s. Interestingly, that particular period is also considered the peak time of Malayalam cinema
itself and is quite widely known as the Golden Age of Malayalam cinema, a period in which the difference between art films and popular films was least felt. Similarly, classical Carnatic music was heavily used in several popular film songs, most notably those in films like Chithram
(1988), His Highness Abdullah
(1990), Bharatham
(1991), Sargam (1992) and Sopanam (1993).
At present, the major players in the scene are young talents like musicians M. Jayachandran
, Deepak Dev
, Alphonse
, Jassie Gift
, Biji Pal, Shyam Dharman and Shaan Rahman; lyricists late Gireesh Puthanchery, Vayalar Sarath and Anil Panachooran, and singers Madhu Balakrishnan
, Afsal, Vidhu Pratap, Franco, Vineeth Sreenivasan
, Manjari
, Gayathri and Jyotsna, along with stalwarts in the field.
The national award winning music directors
of Malayalam cinema are Johnson
(1994, 1995) Bombay Ravi (1995)and Ouseppachan
(2007). The 1995 National Award that Johnson received for film score
of Sukrutham (1994) was the only instance in the history of the award in which the awardee composed the film soundtrack rather than songs. He shared that award with Bombay Ravi who received the award for composing songs for the same film. The lyricists who have won the national award
are Vayalar Ramavarma
(1973), O. N. V. Kurup
(1989) and Yusuf Ali Kechery
(2001). The male singers who got national award
are K. J. Yesudas
(1973, 1974, 1988, 1992, 1994), P. Jayachandran (1986) and M. G. Sreekumar
(1991, 2000). Yesudas has won two more national awards for singing in Hindi
(1977) and Telugu
(1983) films, which makes him the person who has won the largest number of National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
with 7 awards, closely trailed by S. P. Balasubramaniam with 6 awards. The female singers who have won the award
are S. Janaki
(1981) and K. S. Chithra
(1987, 1989). Chitra had also won the award for Tamil (1986, 1997, 2005) and Hindi (1998) film songs, which makes her the person with the largest number of National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer
wins with 6 awards, closely trailed by P. Susheela
with 5 awards.
and the song "Ninakkay Thozhi Punarjanikkam" sung by Biju Narayanan became a big hit. In 1999, Vijayan came up with his second album in 'Ninakkai' series named Aadhyamai, composed by Balabhaskar and penned by Vijayan himself. The song "Iniyarkkum Arodum" sung by K. J. Yesudas
became another hit. In 2001, East Coast came up with Ormakkai which is widely regarded as the biggest hit in the history of Malayalam Pop Music. The song "Ormakkai Iniyoru Snehageetham" from the album, composed by M. Jayachandran
, penned down by Vijayan and sung by K. J. Yesudas
and K. S. Chithra
is widely regarded as an all time classic hit. Meanwhile Pop albums had caught up the imagination of college campuses and more talents started to come up with music albums. One of such early albums that had become a rage with the youth of that time was Valentine's Day. The song "Niranja Mizhiyum" from the album composed by Isaac Thomas Kottukappally and penned down by Gireesh Puthanchery had become a big hit in college campuses. Audio companies other than East Coast started to come up with Music Albums. Front runners among them were Johny Sagarika, Satyam Audios, Magnum audios and Octave audios. As a result Pop music culture grew in Kerala. In 2006, Satyam audios came up with superhit album 'Chembakame' which saw the rise of a new singing sensation Franco and a talented composer Shyam Dharman. The songs "Sundariye Vaa" and "Chembakame" were record breaking hits. In 2008, Johny Sagarika came up with the album 'Moham'and the song "Kudajadriyil" sung by Swarnalatha and composed by Mansoor Ahmed became a big hit. Meanwhile Mallu pop saw a new trend that was the rise of boy bands. One of the first notable boy band was 'Confusion' of Balabhaskar
and their song "No Tension Please" was a hit. Year 2007 saw the coming of a new band 'Team Malayalee' which rocked the malayalam album industry. Team Malayalee consisted of four talented musicians Vineeth Sreenivasan
, Jakes Bijoy, Shaan Rahman and Arjun Sasi. The songs "Friends 4 ever" and "Minnalazhake" from the album Malayalee was big hit. In 2008, Vineeth Sreenivasan
and Shaan Rahman again teamed up to bring out an album 'Coffee @ MG Road' which became another smashing hit. The song "Palavattom" which featured malayalam actor Salim Kumar is widely regarded as an all time hit. Year 2009 saw the rise of another boy band 'YUVA' which created waves with debut album 'Dreamzzz'. YUVA consisted for three talented young musicians Vineeth Mohandas, Santhosh Kumar and Sinu Zachariah and they brought some fresh air of good melodies to the Malayalam music industry at a time when the industry was stuck up imitating Tamil, Hindi and Western songs. Their debut video song "Ravin Nilakayalil" was a huge hit and was a chart topper throughout the year 2009. In 2010 they came up with their second music video "Povukayano" sung by Vidhu Pratap which again was popular among youths. In 2010, another boy band named 'Arrows' was formed which included reality music show Asianet's Idea Star Singer sensations Arun Gopan, Roshan N.C., William Isaac and Sudarshan Achary. After a gap of 6 years, East Coast came up with their 6th album in Ninakkai series, a very ambitious project 'Ennennum'. The album was released in 5 languages in India with 60 songs involving 30 leading singers in the country. This magnum opus album was composed by Vijay Karun and penned down by East Coast Vijayan. It can be regarded as the first big budget music album of Kerala. Talented young composers like Rashee (Alone, Loved and Lost), Dijo Jose Antony (La Cochin), Nithin (Autograph), Mithun Raj(Violet)have also created their marks in the Malayalam album industry. Here is a collection of Popular Malayalam Pop Music.
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
has a long and rich history.It is not the same as malayalam poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
although most of it is poetry driven. Kerala has a rich tradition in Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
.Songs formed a major part of early Malayalam literature
Malayalam literature
The term Malayalam literature refers to Literature written in Malayalam language. Malayalam is the language spoken by around 35 million people, mainly the inhabitants of the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep Islands in India. Malayalam is a Dravidian language and thus has close...
, which traces its origin to the 9th century CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
. The significance of music in the culture of Kerala
Culture of Kerala
The culture of Kerala is a synthesis of Dravidian and Aryan cultures, developed and mixed for centuries, under influences from other parts of India and abroad. It is defined by its antiquity and the organic continuity sustained by the Malayali people. Modern Kerala society took shape owing to...
can be established just by the fact that in Malayalam language, musical poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
was developed long before prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
. With the development of music in the region, different branches were formed out of it. The most basic branches are classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
which is primarily Carnatic music oriented, and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
which includes film songs and album songs. Then there is music like chenda melamwhich is quite popular.
History
The earliest written record of Malayalam is the Vazhappalli inscription (ca. 830 CE). The early literature of Malayalam comprised three types of composition:- Classical songs known as Naadan Paattu
- ManipravalamManipravalamManipravalam was a literary style used in medieval liturgical texts in South India, which used an admixture of Tamil and Sanskrit. Manipravalam is termed a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil...
of the SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
tradition, which permitted a generous interspersing of Sanskrit with Malayalam - The folk song rich in native elements
Malayalam poetry to the late 20th century CE It is very unusefull data. varying degrees of the fusion of the three different strands. The oldest examples of Pattu and , , are Ramacharitam and Vaishikatantram, both of the twelfth century.
Classical Music
KeralaKerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
is musically known for Sopanam
Sopanam
Sopana Sangeetham is a form of Indian classical music that developed in the temples of Kerala in south India in the wake of the increasing popularity of Jayadeva's Gita Govinda or Ashtapadis.-Etymology:...
. Sopanam is religious in nature, and developed through singing invocatory songs at the Kalam
Kalam
ʿIlm al-Kalām is the Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Kalām in Islamic practice relates to the discipline of seeking theological knowledge through debate and argument. A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim...
of Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
, and later inside temples. Sopanam came to prominence in the wake of the increasing popularity of Jayadeva
Works of Jayadeva
Jayadeva was a well known Sanskrit poet and lyricist who was born in Kenduli, Orissa in the 11th century AD. The works of Jayadeva have had a profound influence on Indian culture. It forms the basis of the east Indian classical dance form, Odissi, and has strongly influenced the Bharatanatyam...
's Gita Govinda
Gita Govinda
The Gita Govinda is a work composed by the 12th-century poet, Jayadeva, who was born in Kenduli Sasan near Puri in Orissa. It describes the relationship between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana, and in particular one gopi named Radha...
or Ashtapadis
Ashtapadis
Ashtapadis or Ashtapadi are Indian hymns where the music has eight lines within each composition. Each ashtapadi song is set in a special raga and tala. It is a rhyme of eternal love and supreme devotion...
. Sopana sangeetham (music), as the very name suggests, is sung by the side of the holy steps (sopanam) leading to the sanctum sanctorum
Sanctum sanctorum
The Latin phrase sanctum sanctorum is a Latin translation of the biblical term: "Holy of Holies" which generally refers in Latin texts to the Holiest place of the Tabernacle of Ancient Israel and later the Temples in Jerusalem, but also has some derivative use in application to imitations of the...
of a shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
. It is sung, typically employing plain notes, to the accompaniment of the small, hourglass-shaped ethnic drum called idakka
Idakka
The idakka , also spelt edaykka, is an hourglass-shaped drum from Kerala in south India. This handy percussion instrument is very similar to the pan-Indian damaru. While the damaru is played by rattling knotted cords against the resonators, the idakka is played with a stick...
, besides the chengila or the handy metallic gong to sound the beats. Sopanam is traditionally sung by men of the Marar and Pothuval
Pothuval
Pothuval is a caste of Ambalavasis in Kerala. Ambalavasis are broadly grouped into the sacred thread wearing castes and the non-threaded castes, and Pothuvals belong to the latter group. The males were usually employed as managers, accountants or store-keepers in temples. Pothuval women are...
community, who are Ambalavasi
Ambalavasi
Ambalavasi is a generic name for a collection of castes among Hindus in Kerala who render temple services.-Etymology:The term Ambalavasi is derived from two Malayalam words, being Ambalam and Vasi...
(semi-Brahmin) castes engaged to do it as their hereditary profession. Some famous sopanam singers are Neralattu Rama Poduval
Neralattu Rama Poduval
Neralattu Rama Poduval or Njaralathu Rama Poduval was an exponent of the ashtapadi/sopanam music form practised in Kerala in southern India...
, Janardhanan Nedungadi and Damodara Marar.
Kerala is also home of Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
. Legends like Swati Tirunal, Shadkala Govinda Maarar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar
Chembai
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was a Carnatic music singer from Palakkad . Known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1896, at Kottayi near Palakkad on Janmashtami day, with Bharani star in the month of Chingam...
, Yesudas( Jesudas), Palghat Mani Iyer
Palghat Mani Iyer
Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music and the first mridangist to win the Sangeetha Kalanidhi andPadmabhushan awards....
, Vidwan Gopala Pillai, Chertala Gopalan Nair, M. D. Ramanathan
M. D. Ramanathan
Manjapara Devesa Ramanathan affectionately called MDR was a Carnatic music composer and vocalist.-Early life:...
, T. V. Gopalakrishnan
T. V. Gopalakrishnan
Tirupanithurai Viswanatha Gopalakrishnan is a Carnatic and Hindustani musician from Chennai.Gopalakrishnan hails from a family of musicians, spanning over two centuries; his father was a court musician for the Cochin Royal Family. He is a vocalist, plays the violin and is also an exponent of the...
,Sankaran Namboothiri and T. N. Krishnan are renowned musical exponents from Kerala. Among the younger generation, child prodigy violin wizard L.Athira Krishna and Carnatic vocalist P. Unnikrishnan have made their musical impact in the international arena, thus keeping the regal tradition of Carnatic music alive.
Kerala also has a significant presence of Hindustani music as well. The king of Travancore, Swathi Thirunal patronaged and contributed much to the Hindustani Music.
Popular music
Popular musicPopular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
had a linear development along with classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
of the region, till the branches separated. The popular music in Kerala is enriched by its highly developed film music branch. Other forms of popular music include light music
Light music
Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
, album
Music Album
Music album is the name of:* Music Album , a 1970s Canadian television series* Album, a collection of music tracks...
s otherwise known as Mallu Pop. Devotional songs also constitute a major part of Malayalam popular music.
Pulluvan Pattu
The pulluvar of Kerala are closely connected to the serpent worship. One group among these people consider the snake gods as their presiding deity and perform certain sacrifices and sing songs. This is called Pulluvan Pattu. This is performed in the houses of the lower castes as well as those of the higher castes, in addition to serpent temples.The song conducted by the pulluvar in serpent temples and snake groves is called Sarppapaattu, Naagam Paattu, Sarpam Thullal
Sarpam Thullal
Many ancient family houses in Kerala have special snake shrines called Kavu. Sarpam Thullal is usually performed in the courtyard of houses having snake shrines. This is a votive offering for family wealth and happiness. The dance is performed by members of a community called Pulluvar...
, Sarppolsavam, Paambum Thullal or Paambum Kalam. The main aspects of this are Kalamezhuthu (Drawing of Kalam, a ritual art by itself), song and dance.
Kathakali Music
The language of the songs used for Kathakali is ManipravalamManipravalam
Manipravalam was a literary style used in medieval liturgical texts in South India, which used an admixture of Tamil and Sanskrit. Manipravalam is termed a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil...
. Even though most of the songs are set in ragas based on the microtone-heavy Carnatic music, there is a distinct style of plain-note rendition, which is known as the Sopanam
Sopanam
Sopana Sangeetham is a form of Indian classical music that developed in the temples of Kerala in south India in the wake of the increasing popularity of Jayadeva's Gita Govinda or Ashtapadis.-Etymology:...
style. This typically Kerala style of rendition takes its roots from the temple songs which used to be sung (continues even now at several temples) at the time when Kathakali was born.
Ottamthullal Songs
Ottamthullal songs are meant for the performance of the artform called Ottamthullal. The Ottamthullal artist has to sing and dance to his music. Unlike in the case of KathakaliKathakali
Kathakali is a highly stylized classical Indian dance-drama noted for the attractive make-up of characters, elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the anchor playback music and complementary percussion...
, the language is not heavy sanskritized Malayalam and the lyrics are set to rhythms that range from simple to rare and complicated.
Mappila Pattu
The Malabar region of the state, with a large MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
population had developed a signature music stream based on the Hindustani style. The stream consists of a variety of forms like gazals and mappila pattu, and also music for authentic Muslim dance forms such as oppana and kol kali. The poetry forms a main part of this stream of music, which is primarily in Malayalam with the use of Arabic words in between which is known as arabimalayalam. Mappila songs have a charm of their own as their tunes sound a mix of the ethos and culture of Kerala as well as West Asia. They deal with diverse themes such as religion, love, satire and heroism.
Malayalam film music
Film music, which refers to playback singing in the context of Indian musicMusic of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
, forms the most important canon of popular music in India. Film music of Kerala in particular is the most popular form of music in the state. Before Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema
The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...
and Malayalam film music developed, the Keralites eagerly followed Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
film songs and that habit has stayed with them till now. The history of Malayalam film songs begin with the 1948 film Nirmala. The film's music director was P.S. Divakar and the songs were sung by P. Leela
P. Leela
Porayathu Leela better known as P. Leela was a popular Indian playback singer. She was awarded Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2006.-Early life:...
, T. K. Govinda Rao, Vasudeva Kurup, C. K. Raghavan, Sarojini Menon and Vimala B. Varma, who is credited as the first playback singer of Malayalam cinema.
The main trend in the early years was to use the tune of hit Hindi or Tamil songs in Malayalam songs. This trend was changed in the early 1950s by the arrival of a number of poets and musicians to the Malayalam music scene. People who stormed into the Malayalam film music industry in the 1950s include musicians like V. Dakshinamurthy (1950), K. Raghavan
K. Raghavan
K. Raghavan is a Malayalam music composer. Along with Baburaj, Raghavan is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. K.Raghavan gave a new direction and identity to Malayalam film music.As he searched for the right tune for the lyrics, little did K...
(1954), G. Devarajan
G. Devarajan
Paravoor Govindan Devarajan , popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was a noted Malayalam music composer, died on March 15, 2006 in Chennai, at the age of 80....
(1955) and M.S. Babu Raj (1957) and lyricists like P. Bhaskaran
P. Bhaskaran
Pulloottupadathu Bhaskara Menon , better known as P. Bhaskaran, was a famous Malayalam poet and lyricist of Malayalam film songs. He penned more than 3000 songs for about 250 films. He also directed 44 Malayalam feature films and 3 documentaries, produced 6 feature films and acted in several movies...
(1950), O.N.V. Kurup (1955) and Vayalar Rama Varma (1956). They are attributed with shaping Malayalam film music stream and giving it its own identity. Major playback singers of that time were Kamukara Purushothaman, K.P. Udayabhanu, A.M. Raja, P. Leela
P. Leela
Porayathu Leela better known as P. Leela was a popular Indian playback singer. She was awarded Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2006.-Early life:...
, Santha P. Nair, P. Susheela
P. Susheela
Pulapaka Susheela is an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga and Sinhalese.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Pulapaka...
and S. Janaki
S. Janaki
S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...
. Many of these singers like A.M. Raja, P. Susheela and Janaki were not Malayali
Malayali
Malayali is the term used to refer to the native speakers of Malayalam, originating from the Indian state of Kerala...
s and their pronunciation was not perfect. Despite that, these singers received high popularity throughout Kerala. In later years many non-Malayalis like Manna Dey
Manna Dey
Prabodh Chandra Dey , better known by his nickname Manna Dey , is a playback singer in Bengali Assamese and Hindi films. Along with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, he was a part of Indian film playback music from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of...
, Talat Mehmood, Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
, Asha Bhonsle and S.P. Balasubramaniam sang for Malayalam films. This trend was also found among music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
s to an extent, with outside musicians like Naushad
Naushad
Naushad Ali was an Indian musician. He was one of the foremost music directors for Bollywood films, and is particularly known for popularizing the use of classical music in films.His first film as an independent music director was Prem Nagar in 1940...
, Usha Khanna
Usha Khanna
Usha Khanna is an Indian music director. Regarded as the first established female music director in the Indian film industry, she remained active for more than 3 decades from 1960s to 1980s. She is still active making some music for some movies and television-serials, more than 40 years after her...
, Salil Chaudhary, Bombay Ravi and Ilaya Raja. This can be attributed to the fact that film music in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
had a parallel growth pattern with so many instances of cross-industry contributions.
K.J. Yesudas, who debuted in 1961, virtually revolutionised the Malayalam film music industry and became the most popular Malayalam singer ever. He became equally popular with classical music audience and people who patronised film music. He, along with P. Jayachandran, gave a major facelift to Malayalam playback singing in the 1960s and 1970s. Malayalam film music also received heavy contributions from musicians like Johnson
Johnson (composer)
Johnson was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram, Perumthachan, Amaram, Njan...
, M. G. Radhakrishnan
M. G. Radhakrishnan
M. G. Radhakrishnan was a senior music director and Carnatic vocalist from Kerala. He is highly regarded as one of the most successful light music and film music composer in Malayalam.- Personal life :M. G...
, Raveendran
Raveendran
M. Raveendran , fondly called as "Raveendran Master" was a popular South Indian music composer and Playback singer from Kerala. He was always referred to as the aristocratic music director of Malayalam who had a distinctive style of his own. He composed more than 150 films primarily for the...
, S. P. Venkitesh and Ouseppachan
Ouseppachan
Ousephachan is a National Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Film Award-winning Indian music director who sets scores for Malayalam films. He is one of the most sought-after musicians in the Malayalam film industry.-Biography:...
, lyricists like Sreekumaran Thampy, Yusuf Ali Kechery
Yusuf Ali Kechery
Yusuf Ali Kecheri is a poet and film director from Kerala, India.He is the former president of the Kerala Sahitya Academy. Professor K. P. Narayana Pisharody, the eldest scholar, was Yousuf Ali's Sanskrit teacher...
, and Kaithaprom Damodaran Namboodiri, and singers like M. G. Sreekumar
M. G. Sreekumar
M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has...
, G. Venugopal
G. Venugopal
G. Venugopal is an Indian playback singer, active mainly in Malayalam films. He also has Tamil and Telugu songs to his credit. Venugopal started his career in the film Odarathammava Aalariyam and has sung in more than 280 films and over 250 albums since then.G. Venugopal is a graduate of Kerala...
, K. S. Chithra
K. S. Chithra
K. S. Chithra often credited as Chithra , is an Indian playback singer who has made her mark in the Indian music playback industry. Popularly known as Chinna Kuyil of South India, she has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films...
and Sujatha Mohan
Sujatha Mohan
Sujatha Mohan , usually credited as Sujatha, is an award-winning Indian playback singer who is popular for singing in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She has also sung for Telugu, Kannada and Hindi movies. She is widely popular for her evergreen melodies and her sweet voice is considered to be her...
. A notable aspect in the later years was the extensive of classical Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
in many film songs of the later 1980s and early 1990s. Interestingly, that particular period is also considered the peak time of Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema
The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...
itself and is quite widely known as the Golden Age of Malayalam cinema, a period in which the difference between art films and popular films was least felt. Similarly, classical Carnatic music was heavily used in several popular film songs, most notably those in films like Chithram
Chithram
Chithram is a 1988 Malayalam screwball comedy film written and directed by Priyadarshan, based on a story by Sreenivasan. The film stars Mohanlal, Ranjini, Nedumudi Venu, Poornam Vishwanathan, Sreenivasan, Soman, Sukumari, Innocent, and Maniyanpilla Raju in the main roles. The film was a...
(1988), His Highness Abdullah
His Highness Abdullah
His Highness Abdullah is a musical Malayalam film released in 1990, written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil; featuring Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu, Gauthami, Sreenivasan and Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair. It was produced by Mohanlal under the banner of Pranavam Arts...
(1990), Bharatham
Bharatham
Bharatham is a 1991 musical/drama Malayalam film directed by Sibi Malayil, produced by Mohanlal under the banner of Pranavam Arts and starring Mohanlal, Urvashi, Nedumudi Venu and Lakshmi. The film is especially known for its music that is largely Carnatic Classical and Semi Classical...
(1991), Sargam (1992) and Sopanam (1993).
At present, the major players in the scene are young talents like musicians M. Jayachandran
M. Jayachandran
M. Jayachandran is a film score composer, singer and musician in the Malayalam film industry. He has won Kerala State Film Awards for best music director in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2010, maximum awards won by any music director. He also won the state award for best male singer in 2005...
, Deepak Dev
Deepak Dev
Deepak Devraj, better known as Deepak Dev is an Indian music composer, best known for his compositions in Malayalam cinema, with films such as Chronic Bachelor, Symphony, Udayananu Tharam, Naran, and Puthiya Mukham.-Early years:...
, Alphonse
Alphonse
Alphonse is a French masculine given name. It may refer to :* Alphonse Allais , a French writer and humorist* Alphonse Alley , a Beninese army officer and political figure...
, Jassie Gift
Jassie Gift
Jassie Gift is a Malayalam film music composer and singer from Thiruvananthapuram, India. He became famous after his song "Lajjavathiye" in the film 4 the people.-Biography:...
, Biji Pal, Shyam Dharman and Shaan Rahman; lyricists late Gireesh Puthanchery, Vayalar Sarath and Anil Panachooran, and singers Madhu Balakrishnan
Madhu Balakrishnan
Madhu Balakrishnan is an Indian playback singer, who sings in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada languages.-Biography:Madhu Balakrishnan is from Tripunithura, Cochin, Kerala in India. A Graded artist in All India Radio and Doordarshan, he has performed with all major playback singers in Kerala...
, Afsal, Vidhu Pratap, Franco, Vineeth Sreenivasan
Vineeth Sreenivasan
Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, film actor, director, and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Sreenivasan. He made his debut as a director with his film Malarvaadi Arts Club .- Biography :...
, Manjari
Manjari
The word "manjari" is of sanskrit origin that primarily means a collection. e.g."katha manjari" . It is used in many Indian languages like Hindi and Kannada...
, Gayathri and Jyotsna, along with stalwarts in the field.
The national award winning music directors
National Film Award for Best Music Direction
The National Film Award for Best Music Direction are given annually. In years 1994, 1995 and 2010, an award for Best Background Score was instituted by the Jury, which was won by Johnson and by Ilaiyaraaja . Ilaiyaraaja and A. R...
of Malayalam cinema are Johnson
Johnson (composer)
Johnson was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram, Perumthachan, Amaram, Njan...
(1994, 1995) Bombay Ravi (1995)and Ouseppachan
Ouseppachan
Ousephachan is a National Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State Film Award-winning Indian music director who sets scores for Malayalam films. He is one of the most sought-after musicians in the Malayalam film industry.-Biography:...
(2007). The 1995 National Award that Johnson received for film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
of Sukrutham (1994) was the only instance in the history of the award in which the awardee composed the film soundtrack rather than songs. He shared that award with Bombay Ravi who received the award for composing songs for the same film. The lyricists who have won the national award
National Film Award for Best Lyrics
The National Film Award for Best Lyrics winners:Vairamuthu won the award for maximum number of times . Javed Akhtar is the only lyricist to win the award for three consecutive years .-References:...
are Vayalar Ramavarma
Vayalar Ramavarma
Vayalar Ramavarma , often known as Vayalar, was a modern Malayalam poet and lyricist. His famous works include Sargasangeetham, Mulankaadu, Padamudrakal, Aayisha, Oru Judas janikkunnu.-Biography:...
(1973), O. N. V. Kurup
O. N. V. Kurup
Ottaplakkal Nambiyadikkal Velu Kurup , popularly known as O. N. V. Kurup or simply O. N. V., is a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won Jnanpith Award,the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He is considered one of the finest living lyrical poets in India. O. N....
(1989) and Yusuf Ali Kechery
Yusuf Ali Kechery
Yusuf Ali Kecheri is a poet and film director from Kerala, India.He is the former president of the Kerala Sahitya Academy. Professor K. P. Narayana Pisharody, the eldest scholar, was Yousuf Ali's Sanskrit teacher...
(2001). The male singers who got national award
National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
The following is a list of winners of the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. The singer with the most awards in this category is K. J. Yesudas with seven wins, whereas S. P. Balasubrahmanyam won six times for 4 different languages; Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.-Superlatives:...
are K. J. Yesudas
K. J. Yesudas
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...
(1973, 1974, 1988, 1992, 1994), P. Jayachandran (1986) and M. G. Sreekumar
M. G. Sreekumar
M. G. Sreekumar is a two-time National Award-winning Indian playback singer and music director who works in Malayalam cinema. With a career of over 25 years, he is one of the prominent male singers in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for matching voice with Malayalam actor Mohanlal. He has...
(1991, 2000). Yesudas has won two more national awards for singing in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
(1977) and Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
(1983) films, which makes him the person who has won the largest number of National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer
The following is a list of winners of the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. The singer with the most awards in this category is K. J. Yesudas with seven wins, whereas S. P. Balasubrahmanyam won six times for 4 different languages; Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.-Superlatives:...
with 7 awards, closely trailed by S. P. Balasubramaniam with 6 awards. The female singers who have won the award
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer
The National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer winners are given below. Lata Mangeshkar is the oldest winner in this category, whereas Anjali Marathe is the youngest winner; while K. S. Chithra been awarded for the maximum number of times .-Superlatives:...
are S. Janaki
S. Janaki
S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...
(1981) and K. S. Chithra
K. S. Chithra
K. S. Chithra often credited as Chithra , is an Indian playback singer who has made her mark in the Indian music playback industry. Popularly known as Chinna Kuyil of South India, she has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films...
(1987, 1989). Chitra had also won the award for Tamil (1986, 1997, 2005) and Hindi (1998) film songs, which makes her the person with the largest number of National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer
National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer
The National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer winners are given below. Lata Mangeshkar is the oldest winner in this category, whereas Anjali Marathe is the youngest winner; while K. S. Chithra been awarded for the maximum number of times .-Superlatives:...
wins with 6 awards, closely trailed by P. Susheela
P. Susheela
Pulapaka Susheela is an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, she has recorded songs in many Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Sanskrit, Tulu, Badaga and Sinhalese.-Personal life:She is the daughter of Pulapaka...
with 5 awards.
Malayalam Pop music
Pop music in Kerala, developed in the later half of 1990s with the entry of East Coast Vijayan and his music company East Coast Audios. East Coast Vijayan can be regarded as the pioneer of non-film pop album songs in Kerala. Being a poet himself, Vijayan penned down the first non-film music album in Malayalam Ninakkai, which was released in 1998. The music was given by BalabhaskarBalabhaskar
Balabhaskar Chandran is an Indian violinist, composer and record producer. He is best known for promoting fusion music in South India. Hailing from a musically affluent family, he was introduced to the world of instrumental music at a tender age of three, by his uncle Shri...
and the song "Ninakkay Thozhi Punarjanikkam" sung by Biju Narayanan became a big hit. In 1999, Vijayan came up with his second album in 'Ninakkai' series named Aadhyamai, composed by Balabhaskar and penned by Vijayan himself. The song "Iniyarkkum Arodum" sung by K. J. Yesudas
K. J. Yesudas
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...
became another hit. In 2001, East Coast came up with Ormakkai which is widely regarded as the biggest hit in the history of Malayalam Pop Music. The song "Ormakkai Iniyoru Snehageetham" from the album, composed by M. Jayachandran
M. Jayachandran
M. Jayachandran is a film score composer, singer and musician in the Malayalam film industry. He has won Kerala State Film Awards for best music director in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2010, maximum awards won by any music director. He also won the state award for best male singer in 2005...
, penned down by Vijayan and sung by K. J. Yesudas
K. J. Yesudas
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...
and K. S. Chithra
K. S. Chithra
K. S. Chithra often credited as Chithra , is an Indian playback singer who has made her mark in the Indian music playback industry. Popularly known as Chinna Kuyil of South India, she has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films...
is widely regarded as an all time classic hit. Meanwhile Pop albums had caught up the imagination of college campuses and more talents started to come up with music albums. One of such early albums that had become a rage with the youth of that time was Valentine's Day. The song "Niranja Mizhiyum" from the album composed by Isaac Thomas Kottukappally and penned down by Gireesh Puthanchery had become a big hit in college campuses. Audio companies other than East Coast started to come up with Music Albums. Front runners among them were Johny Sagarika, Satyam Audios, Magnum audios and Octave audios. As a result Pop music culture grew in Kerala. In 2006, Satyam audios came up with superhit album 'Chembakame' which saw the rise of a new singing sensation Franco and a talented composer Shyam Dharman. The songs "Sundariye Vaa" and "Chembakame" were record breaking hits. In 2008, Johny Sagarika came up with the album 'Moham'and the song "Kudajadriyil" sung by Swarnalatha and composed by Mansoor Ahmed became a big hit. Meanwhile Mallu pop saw a new trend that was the rise of boy bands. One of the first notable boy band was 'Confusion' of Balabhaskar
Balabhaskar
Balabhaskar Chandran is an Indian violinist, composer and record producer. He is best known for promoting fusion music in South India. Hailing from a musically affluent family, he was introduced to the world of instrumental music at a tender age of three, by his uncle Shri...
and their song "No Tension Please" was a hit. Year 2007 saw the coming of a new band 'Team Malayalee' which rocked the malayalam album industry. Team Malayalee consisted of four talented musicians Vineeth Sreenivasan
Vineeth Sreenivasan
Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, film actor, director, and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Sreenivasan. He made his debut as a director with his film Malarvaadi Arts Club .- Biography :...
, Jakes Bijoy, Shaan Rahman and Arjun Sasi. The songs "Friends 4 ever" and "Minnalazhake" from the album Malayalee was big hit. In 2008, Vineeth Sreenivasan
Vineeth Sreenivasan
Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, film actor, director, and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Sreenivasan. He made his debut as a director with his film Malarvaadi Arts Club .- Biography :...
and Shaan Rahman again teamed up to bring out an album 'Coffee @ MG Road' which became another smashing hit. The song "Palavattom" which featured malayalam actor Salim Kumar is widely regarded as an all time hit. Year 2009 saw the rise of another boy band 'YUVA' which created waves with debut album 'Dreamzzz'. YUVA consisted for three talented young musicians Vineeth Mohandas, Santhosh Kumar and Sinu Zachariah and they brought some fresh air of good melodies to the Malayalam music industry at a time when the industry was stuck up imitating Tamil, Hindi and Western songs. Their debut video song "Ravin Nilakayalil" was a huge hit and was a chart topper throughout the year 2009. In 2010 they came up with their second music video "Povukayano" sung by Vidhu Pratap which again was popular among youths. In 2010, another boy band named 'Arrows' was formed which included reality music show Asianet's Idea Star Singer sensations Arun Gopan, Roshan N.C., William Isaac and Sudarshan Achary. After a gap of 6 years, East Coast came up with their 6th album in Ninakkai series, a very ambitious project 'Ennennum'. The album was released in 5 languages in India with 60 songs involving 30 leading singers in the country. This magnum opus album was composed by Vijay Karun and penned down by East Coast Vijayan. It can be regarded as the first big budget music album of Kerala. Talented young composers like Rashee (Alone, Loved and Lost), Dijo Jose Antony (La Cochin), Nithin (Autograph), Mithun Raj(Violet)have also created their marks in the Malayalam album industry. Here is a collection of Popular Malayalam Pop Music.
See also
- Percussion Dominated Music: The structure and genres of kshetram vadyam
- Pandi MelamPandi MelamPandi melam is a classical percussion concert or melam led by the ethnic Kerala instrument called the chenda and accompanied by ilathalam , kuzhal and Kombu....
- Panchari melamPanchari melamPanchari Melam is a percussion ensemble, canonically lasting more than four hours, performed during temple festivals in Kerala, India. Panchari Melam , is one of the major forms of chenda melam , and is the best-known and most popular kshetram vadyam genre...
- PanchavadyamPanchavadyamPanchavadyam, literally meaning an orchestra of five instruments, is basically a temple art form that has evolved in Kerala. Of the five instruments, four -- timila, maddalam, ilathalam and idakka -- belong to the percussion category, while the fifth one, kombu, is a wind instrument.Much like any...
- Tayambaka
- Maddalam and Chenda KeliMaddalam and Chenda Keli-Keli:Keli is a ritualistic south Indian percussion concert involving two Kerala drums called the chenda and the maddalam besides the ethnic cymbal known as ilathalam and chengila , which typically lasts for some 20 minutes got a pyramid structure. It is usually staged in the night in temple...
- Kombu PattuKombu PattuKombu Pattu is one of the few instrumental temple art forms in which the melody instruments dominate. Even this is only partly true, as the C-shaped trumpet, the kombu, is regarded as a rhythm instrument by its players, with the function of embellishing the beats of the drums. The kombu can only...
- Kuzhal PattuKuzhal PattuKuzhal pattu is a form of traditional temple music practised in the Kerala state of India. It centers around the use of the kuzhal, a double reed wind instrument, and is typically performed at temple festivals.-Structure:...
- Kerala percussion genres kshetram vadyam and other Indian music systemsKerala percussion genres kshetram vadyam and other Indian music systemsKshetram vadyam is the ritual music of South India. This is the main traditional music of Kerala state. It is a percussion dominated music.-Basis:...
- Kerala KalamandalamKerala KalamandalamKerala Kalamandalam , lately renamed as Kalamandalam Deemed University of Art and Culture, is a major centre for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the southern state of India, with the special emphasis on Kerala. It is situated in the village of Cheruthuruthy in...
- Arts of KeralaArts of KeralaThe Indian state of Kerala is well known for its diverse forms of performing arts. The various communities in Kerala contribute to its rich and colorful culture.-Hindu Arts:* Kathakali* Koodiyattom* Theyyam* Thira* Theeyaattam * Mohiniyattam...