Are Malayalam actors jazzing it up as singers?

When Mohanlal lent his voice for the AEIOU song in Aye Auto in 1990, Mollywood fans and music buffs were in for a surprise as it was rare to hear an actor singing. Cut to 2018; stars trying their hand at singing has now become the norm. From Dulquer Salmaan to Nithya Menen, the list keeps growing each day, just like the number of views the videos have been garnering online.
However, is the rush to cash in on the massive popularity of actors by getting them to sing affecting the quality of the songs? We ask Mollywood’s music directors and experts:
Composer Gopi Sunder, who got Dulquer to sing for four of his projects starting from Johny Mone Johny in ABCD, says the quality of music is always the priority rather than the accompanying glam quotient.
“Initially, when we decided to get actors to sing, it generated a lot of buzz. For the audience, it was all about their favourite star singing rather than the song itself and hence gained a lot of traction,” says Gopi.
The composer, however, says that the songs are now only given to actors after assessing their calibre and that there are many talented singers among actors.
“The quality of the music in the film is never compromised as there will be other tracks sung by experts. Music is the priority and it will be a crime if we try to undermine its value for commercial benefits,” he says. “Also, when actors themselves sing their tracks, there is a certain connect, just like them avoiding dupes to perform action scenes which they can do on their own.”
Agreeing with him is composer Tony Joseph Pallivathukal, who got Indrajith, Manju Warrier and Nithya Menen to sing for a recent release. “His song for the Manju Warrier-starrer is contextual and we felt his voice will be apt,” says Tony. “When actors use their real voice for the songs, it gives the audience a realistic feel just like sync-sound.”
Indrajith has sung for several movies including Mullavalliyum Thenmavum and Amar Akbar Anthony. Most of the actors — such as Prithviraj and Jayasurya – who have now become regular singers are “highly gifted” and work hard to make the song as perfect as possible.
“Indrajith had done a lot of homework before coming to the studio and we recorded the song in just 20 minutes,” he says. “Nithya had earlier sung a lullaby for A R Rahman in 24 and we felt her voice would be apt for the lullaby in the movie. She loved the song and rehearsed well before the recording.”

However, he admits that the prime reason for such ventures is publicity.
“We released Nithya’s Va Va Vo song on the eve of her birthday and it crossed 10 lakh views in just four days. In the first day itself, it passed five lakh views. As she works in multiple film industries, we knew her fans from the entire South would watch the song,” he says.
Echoing his views, the representative of a popular music label says that the reach of the songs is much more when actors sing. “Stars already have a massive fan base, which the makers of the films can use in the song’s favour. They can also cash in on the curiosity to propel the film promotions, enabling them to do much more when it comes to online marketing and PR of the films.”
Getting stars to go behind the microphone is not just a fad of new-gen composers, as experienced music directors such as M Jayachandran too agree that it doesn’t adversely affect the quality of music.
“Mohanlal and Indrajith have sung in my films as I was convinced that it was necessary for those song sequences and both of them have a flair for singing. However, I do not think such a trend will have any bearing on the quality of film music as we have a lot of talented singers and also songs,” says Jayachandran.
Meanwhile, Gopi Sunder says that it is also tricky to get an actor to sing. “If the actors cannot carry a tune, they will definitely be trolled and only if the song is good it will be accepted. The novel attraction and commercial value are just secondary. So, we are extremely careful about that aspect,” he says.

While the number of actors going behind the microphones is increasing day by day, Tony asserts that a singer is never side-lined for an actor.
Jayachandran, however, is against the trend of consistently choosing actors to sing. “Actors are given songs that suit their voice and skill. At the same time, those songs which have a complicated tune and need expertise to perform should be given to trained singers. It’s alright to make an actor sing if the director already has an ideal sequence in his film. But I am totally against bringing in actors to sing in every film without any context and just for marketing purposes,” he says.
Actor-singer Murali Gopy, who has lent his voice for songs in Premam, Kaattu and a recent Dileep movie, probably sums it up best from an actor’s perspective when he says, “I am not a singer, I only croon. I croon when the music director asks me to as I believe that in that context they are finding my voice apt. Cinema’s music is not pure but is for the drama on screen, hence we do not have to think about its quality. When an actor sings, the only question we need to ask is if it is good for the movie?”