This story is about Shobin, the lyricist who wrote two songs for Rosshan Andrrews’s new movie, Kayamkulam Kochunni. But if you interview him, you might end up writing more about Rosshan than about Shobin. He speaks volumes of his director, a man he has admired for a very long time.
“Ever since I watched Ividam Swargamanu – a movie he made in 2009 – I have been dying to meet him. And I do that, I go and meet the people I really admire,” says Shobin, excited and slightly tired after an entire Saturday at work. He is a Malayalam teacher at a higher secondary school in Palluruthy, Kochi. He’s also working on his PhD on the ‘Influence of Indian philosophy on Malayalam film songs’.
He has been knocking on the doors of director Rosshan Andrrews for six years now, asking for a chance to work with him. “I would go to meet him at least three times a year. I am a research student and I like that he is a director who does a lot of research before making a film. I have noticed how he makes one movie only once in two or three years,” he says.
Rosshan would tell Shobin each time he’d call him when the time comes. And when the time came, it was Rosshan’s wife Ancy who reminded him about Shobin. “When I go to meet sir, I ended up talking to his mother and his wife Ancy chechi for a long time. It was from his mother (who passed away recently) that I learn more about Rosshan sir. How he would read and study about cinema for years. And it was Ancy chechi who reminded Rosshan sir about me when he was looking for a songwriter for Kayamkulam Kochunni.”
‘Kalari Adavum’, composed by Gopi Sunder and writen by Shobin, has already become pretty popular, a romantic song between actors Nivin Pauly and Priya Anand. “He narrated the situation and asked if I could write a song that began with kalari. He said he would take it only if he liked it.”
Rosshan Andrrews, Shobin and Gopi Sunder
Rosshan liked it. Shobin had spent hours researching and reading on Kayamkulam Kochunni, the Robin Hood-like thief on whom the movie is based. He read up on the time period Kochunni lived in. He spoke to Kalari masters. All for a song.
Rosshan liked it so much he asked Shobin for another, an item song. This time Shobin was quick, and finished ‘Nirthageethikal’ in two days.
Shobin has received much appreciation for his songs, coming five years after he wrote his last one for a film. That was for 101 Chodyangal for musician MK Arjunan. He is another man that Shobin has admired for a long time and met when he was only a lad, doing his Pre-Degree. “I went to meet him with a file of my poems. He was very nice to me, appreciated my work. I have written lyrics for 25 of his songs, mostly devotional ones.”
There’s another anecdote he shares. Once, when he had to write a song about the Guruvayoor temple, he went to stay there for 21 days and offered nirmalyam.
But he is not keen on working on too many songs and too many films. “I want to write good songs for good films. Otherwise, it’d be like lines you write on water, they get rubbed away.”