What starts off as a relaxing piece of music, with uncomplicated lyrics about a chicken, later turns menacing, questioning, dark and at times psychedelic. Malayalam actor and singer Sreenath Bhasi features in the music video along with musician Sekhar Menon. The song, sung by Bhasi, has been composed by Sekhar. The words are by renowned poet K Satchidanandan. They call it KozhiPunk and have released it on YouTube.
Ente kozhiye ningal pakutholin
Pakshe kurmban kokkeniku tharin
Ente kozhiye ningal pakutholin
Pakshe chempin pooveniku tharin
Kunnikuru kanneniku tharin
You can divide my chicken
But give me the sharp beak
You can divide my chicken
But give me the rooster comb
Give me the lucky red seed-like eyes
The music video has been created by writer and filmmaker Muhsin Parari and directed by Abhilash S Kumar. Shot in a wooded area, the video has both Bhasi and Sekhar moving around in tune with the music.
Towards the last half of the song, Bhasi’s tone changes as visuals of several political incidents in the recent years flicker through as animations – the killing of Madhu, a hungry man in Attapadi, the Dadri mob lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq, the death of Rohith Vemula, the shooting of journalist Gauri Lankesh, the attack on Jamia Millia students who were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC (National Register of Citizens), the Shaheen Bagh protests, and the strikes to release all political prisoners.
As the visuals flash through, Satchidanandan’s words say, ‘take the bones and the teeth and the eggs and the breasts of the hen’. Bhasi utters ‘eduthoda’ menacingly and then softly ‘Ente kozhiye mathrameniku tharin’ (Just give me my chicken).
Sreenath Bhasi was part of a music band before he began acting in movies. Sekhar is a popular DJ based in Ernakulam. The two of them acted together in Aashiq Abu’s 2012 movie Da Thadiya.
Watch: The KozhiPunk song