Best Iconic Female Singer Award at the IMFA, Dubai

"sabr ka phal meetha hota hain", is something I learnt in my primary Hindi classes back in school. But in my case, there was hardly any wait or struggle in literal sense. I am just a normal couch potato who would rather switch through TV channels than going from studio to studio with a demo CD and biodata. My kind of struggle was a fun ride, where I often happened to slip, too. As lazy as I can get, having sent a dozen demos to the industry's happening composers, only Rahul Raj happened to respond back for 'Chanchalam' in Ritu. But as fate had it, was quite unlucky to not have a video for that, which got the song unnoticed. Then life took a drastically positive turn when I entered into a progressive chamber of creativity aka Rosebowl. From then on, of course, I lost touch with the playback industry, and was immersed in a whole new world of music, where there were no deadlines or commanding producers, but, just plain music! When Aashiq happened to hear Outcast Vocals and invited my to sing for SNP, I never knew it would be a song or a movie that would change the age old commercial perception of Malayalam Cinema. Premikyumbol was probably my fastest studio session so far, in a record of 25 minutes! But what intimidated me was when I heard my voice along with P. Jayachandran's, at the studio. Bijibal sir was so composed and calm even while correcting some of my nuances. And to see it on the big screen ... *sigh*!

When the IMFA, International Malayalam Film Award organizers called to inform me of my award, I thought I was receiving it for only Premikyumbol. But on the day of the function, I realized that I was actually being credited for my musical endeavours with Rosebowl and Avial. Can't believe how progressive music that was displayed only on a local channel, and was circulated on the net, crossing the 7 seas, has scored to such a huge level. I also happened to learn that few Radios in Dubai play the audio tracks of Outcast Vocals, and get a lot of requests for Tose Naina Ft. Anberlin :) Despite recovering from a cold, I had super fun jamming 'Etho Varmukilin' with a talented musician from 'Radio Me', Ranjith. So, a huuuuge thanks to the 'Gelf' Malayalees and music lovers for making this local product international . The list will go on, but can't do without thanking SNP team, Aashiq, Bijibal, Rafeeq Ahmed, P. Jayachandran for Premikyumbol, Sumesh Lal for believing in his conviction, Avial team for making me feel like a family and educating me at all levels regarding music and life; my family, especially Dad.. without whose patience and encouragement I would remain a couch potato. Thank you to everyone on twitter and facebook for having shared my videos and for liking and commenting and retweeting, because of which my work got a little noticed outside Kerala. Finally, thank you IMFA and Radio Me for bestowing upon me this award. I felt really honoured to have shared this moment on the National Day of the U.A.E.

The Last supper - Rosebowl, a journey with immortal memories

Ever since I shifted my base to Kerala, my mother has always been bugging me to get into some channel and do one of those chit chat shows, where one has to put on a 32 teeth smile, yapping away with aunties ,like forever ! Not that those shows are lame, but it's so not my cup of tea. I am so damn serious and boring , especially in front of camera, that one would stop calling if I ever was to be part of one of those request-a-song-and-i'll-play-what-the-producer-decides show :) After college when I would go home and become a couch potato ,sipping onto hot coffee, Mom would show me plenty of are-you-interested-in-VJing ads ,to which I would retaliate with endless NO's!! Then, one day, as if it was snowing in a desert, I happened to stop upon 'Rosebowl' , during a commercial break going on between one of those cry baby serials my Aunt is addicted to. I couldn't believe my eyes. Something this contemporary, exceptional, out-of-the-box youth channel in Kerala came as a shocking revelation to me. But, my mom would still try to convince me to audition for some channel and invest my qualitative time in some extra curricular activity, rather than indulging into eating 24/7, which is a sickness for few foodies like me. OK. Maybe, I'm just going on and on without getting to the point. Here, it is- the Om Shanti Om dialogue "kisi cheez ko pure dil se chaho tho puri qaynaat use tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jati hain" ... and really, it just happened like that. Some producer who was doing time pass on Orkut, happened to come across my then lame profile (where I had written rubbish like where would I go on a date and so on!), and was bowled over by my display photo, which was, of course, photo-shopped *evil grin* .



The fact is that no one knows about how I had auditioned earlier and was never called back , much before this producer's (Kadamba Rajesh)eye fell upon me. Like a dream come true, I hosted my first ever TV show 'Thank you for the music' , which aired 100 best songs of A.R.Rahman, right before he won the Oscars. The rest they say is history. Sumesh Lal, one of my Godfather in true sense, gave me my first independent show 'Piano sessions with Stephen Devassi' without even an audition. When I asked him about this later, he said that he apparently had some kind of conviction. What followed his conviction were other series like, Outcast Vocals 1 & 2 and the 'In conversation' episodes with a whole bunch of exquisite musicians!



It truly has been a great, fun, musical, extravagant and whatever I say more would only be too less to describe what Rosebowl has given me. I would like to thank all the technicians, cameramen, my producers who've been terribly patient with me ,the other anchors who are so much fun to hang out with , and Sumesh sir for believing in me. You all have watched our work on TV and on the net and have given us so much love, but, a lot of effort goes behind this, from its concept to preparing budgets, to creating sets, lighting, camera, editing, and so much! In fact, we work on a minimal budget, but we have always tried to deliver the best. I hope we've done justice. Tomorrow if our Rosebowl is going to be remembered for Listmania or for Jagee's cookbook or for Talking Point or for Harmonize Projekt, it is definitely because of endless effort and dedication by the small team who works behind the camera. As you all must have known by now, the channel is going to be led by a new creative group. This is what Sumesh Lal, the ex-creative head at Rosebowl had to say on the channel's last day -

Dear friends and well wishers,This is our final status update. The 30 incredibly talented people who were behind Rosebowl have quit...They showed courage and conviction to follow their heart, when everyone else failed to handle the truth. And we will someday tell you that story...We thank all our friends and viewers who were our only inspiration all these years. Well, the show will and must go on. We hope the new guys would take the channel to greater heights...From all of us, producers, editors, cameramen, anchors… Thank you and goodbye!

Goodbye, Rosebowl. This is only a new beginning for all of us who will try to create the same magic in some other platform. Thank you viewers for being such an amazing source of encouragement and constructive criticism. Without you guys, we would never be such a massive hit on the YouTube. This is my last work at Rosebowl..





Adios Amigo

Quote for the month

Yesterday I had a shoot for one of the episodes of Nine at Night for Rosebowl. I got to have a conversation with Mr. Alphonse who is creating waves with his latest from Rahman's Vinnaithandi Varuvaya. Apart from being humble, talented and a spiritual person, his struggles ,despite a great entry as a composer through 'Vellithira' ,is worth a listen. His belief in God and constant hardwork without any distractions has inspired me in a way to ignore all the negativity that comes in my way. You must remember that the greatest critic of you is within you. And the Quote for the month is :

"Dreams and Dedication are a powerful combination."

Rosebowl on Youtube :)

It's absolutely amazing to work with Rosebowl. And now the good news is that the channel has it's music videos uploaded on YouTube :) Amazing isn't it?? Something you have to watch out for is Avial; Job, Charan and Yakzon; The Piano sessions with Stephen Devassi ... go ahead ..enjoy some awesomatic music !!!

The link
http://www.youtube.com/rosebowlchannel

Welcome 2010 !!!

Late by two days I know!! but... HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! Well the first half of 2009 was pretty low for me. Silly predictions, zero results, bad bad health, dealing with intolerable problems attached to the college, University and their tantrums... it would be better to not blog about it !! But around mid April I got to sing for Ritu and I still feel very blessed to be a part of the project. I am one of the lucky ones to be a part of this film and most importantly it felt like a family rather than a 'film'.

My work accelerated as a TV presenter too. Got loads of offers but I didn't take them up cos I felt I am best made for singing, music. How much ever I indulge myself into photography, news debates, blogging and wotnot ..at the end I feel full only when I am into music. To work with Stephen Devassi at a very early stage of my career is truly a blessing in form of Rosebowl. The amount one gets to learn from the experienced is like a treasure box. I also came up with a lot of innovative ideas, took my first step into composing seriously, etc. So 2009 was almost like 'making of a musician' ..I'm there..but not completely. Everyone has been raving about what a great year 2010 is going to be for everyone. Wonder why 2010! Somewhere in the midst of all this discussion even I feel, out of my intuitions that something big is waiting for me in 2010. I hope there is progress in law and order of our country and the climatic conditions. Hope is not all we can do .. it's time to make a difference in some way or the other. So this year is going to be one of the action-oriented decision-making years.. Wishing you all a year of excellence!!

Outcast Vocals

This was another musical shoot for Rosebowl. Planning had been going on since September but materialized only in November. Apart from Suchith I wanted few other young singers to be a part of this but somehow we worked it this way. Vineeth George was on the Piano in his typical jazz style and Siddharth too. We had Avial bass guitarist Benny also. Did a whole lot of melodies and fusion and semi classical and wotnot. Just had a dekko at the trailors today. Naming it was a big headache !!! First it was Coconut Machans then that was apparently sounding too whacky so finally we finalized with Outcast Vocals. It's going to be aired tomorrow on X'mas..from 10 AM ... Please do watch it and give me some great reviews (hopefully) ... bubyeee

Merry X'mas and fun filled new years to all !! :D

Single or married?

I was catching up with the re telecast of Talking Point on Rosebowl. The topic was about remaining single or married. The point was which gives you more happiness. It's hard for one to reach a conclusion on such topics and there was this huge argument on girls being forced to get married by 23-24. By putting a certain age limit for marriage does make one's marital life much much organized. But one must not be forced to an extent where we might end up taking a hasty decision about our companion. I think for women, getting married at 25-26 is apt for them to plan their family life and balance their career alongside.

This whole notion that women lose their freedom after marriage is an absolute myth. Of course we have to change or compromise in a way to blend well with the ways of our partner but that certainly does not imply that we have to give away our freedom. Perhaps the way we apply our freedom might have to change. But that only changes the route; it does not take away the freedom from us. For a woman to get married at her mid twenties helps her in planning her future, her companion's future and the future of the generation she is going to build thereon. Honestly I am today's woman but I do not see my self lonely at the age of 40 , nor do I see myself being a mother to my teenage child at sixty. A mother has to be physically and mentally fit to nurture her child's growth. It has a lot of biological factors too. I am implying only on women here because there was so much of fuss being created on whether women should get married by 20 or after 30. More than the age factor it depends on when we feel settled. Also God has made women in such a way that they mature my 13 or 14 already. But today's lifestyle, which has become a necessity, has definitely not prepared a 13 year old to nurture a family of her own like olden times. I remember that during school my classmate had a brother 7 years younger than her. Her parents had a late marriage and the kids even later. When she was telling me about their late marriage she suddenly realized that her brother would be 13 when her father would be 60. The amount of effort parents have to put on a child saturates at their teenage years. When a parent is not physically prepared for that it could affect their child who is bound to go through a risky path being a teen. I hope that explains why we have certain age strategies for women and men when it comes to marriage.

Education, career, a secure future had made today's woman very independent and capable of self decision making. But we must not forget about evolution. After a certain age I am sure none of us want to die lonely however popular we are to be surrounded by 'people'. To have that special someone is definitely much more than 'people'. Staying single until you find the person is justified totally :)

Growth has to be there in all forms be it the human brain, discipline, maturity or the future gen. Meeting of the two sexes is a beautiful purpose for cultivating the human farm. So one should stop being too insecure about losing out on their freedom and instead let things happen the way nature had bestowed upon us.

Nine@Night is featuring Neelathamara singer, Shreekumar at 9 PM exclusively on Rosebowl tonight. You can catch its repeat on Sunday morning 9 AM :)

One of them from my big list of principles are to keep professional things 10 yards away from personal. I really dread working with those people who can't follow the above . Be it in any field , one should never ever remain silent to any injustice done but should at the same time take care of the society and the time one has to execute the consequences. Sometimes at work I hate to work with some people because of their unprofessional attitude. It kills me to give my 100 % in such situations and to accept the fact that united we stand. Team work is always a success and we just need to ignore a lot of things that happen at work in order to be professional. But I do voice my opinion when it crosses the lakshmanrekha.

Done with Nine at Night shoot for this week. Was as usual fun to do extempore conversations with celebrities. But my best till date has been with Baluji. Firstly his violin is one mesmerizing object which can probably be used all the while. Secondly he speaks so informally that it makes the anchor feel big and nice :) To top it all the last jamming session we made up in Jog. I had asked him to play anything he likes and when he kept thinking about what to play I suggested him to do some piece in Jog to which he kept thinking more. Then he came up with this brilliant plan of jamming and asked me to try out some aalaps.. was daaaaaamn nervous but to jam with him is one helluva experience and was the most appreciated part of the episode. All's well that jam's well ;)

Tiaaaaaaaaaa

THE BIG ONAM SPLASH

which was telecasted in Rosebowl Channel on September 3rd have given me some really negative reviews. Lot of people called me after the telecast to tell me how hilarious it was but at the same time there were people who thought it completely threw of the image of some of the anchors. I wanted to write on this earlier but thought of it as a fun show but now after receiving some shrewd comments I decided to write on this though I am late by a week.

Firstly, this whole 'prankster on the prowl' was not planned! None of us would wantingly throw our dignity to raise the TRP of the channel. None of us need that. Each and every anchor is extremely professional when it comes to their work and we don't need any sort of short term publicity stunts to raise the TRP of our respective shows. So those of you who think it's planned I think I have cleared your doubt. Secondly, I do not know about the rest but I didn't feel good about it . I was absolutely helpless at that point. I don't have the rights to speak about the other gags as I was not present there while those were being taken. I can only speak to you about the gag played on me. I was told that Sudipto (Prankster) was a percussionist who has worked with A.R.Rahman and Himesh Reshammiya. I was also asked to hold a small interactive session with him asking about his experience and his future works. And apparently he was also asked to interact with me so that I can sing few songs and speak about my show, Nine at Night. Once the cameras were rolling he obviously started to speak about fake things to trap me. Now, some of the spectators had a problem with me not responding back and disagreed with me agreeing to all the nonsense spoken by Sudipto. Just look at it from a different angle. I am actually interacting with a percussionist from ARRs den so I need to give him the respect he deserves even if it's utter crap that he is speaking on National TV. In fact many of the celebrity guests in my show speak a lot of things that could work against their image. But since everything is cut off in the editing room you guys never get to watch it uncensored. When the gag was being played all I could think was that I am suppose to diplomatically handle this making sure I do not hurt Sudipto's feelings. So naturally I had to oblige to everything he had to say be it Kumar Sanu raag or Kutra raag or ramdev raag . I don't think I would appreciate any kind of rebelling in front of the camera on such a situation. It's also for the same reasons that I actually sang the different versions of Pardesi. I am a singer who is asked to use my creativity at various unprepared situations... and at that point I did feel that as a singer I proved my creativity even if a bunch of them had a ROFL. No regrets .. all was done to entertain each and everyone of you. But it would be nice if you could also think about the other side.

Once all of us got to know that it was a gag it was way too late to respond. But for that one person who commented against this , please, if you did'nt like it and if you think we lost our image then you may kindly switch the channel and watch something which probably matches your dignity levels. After all man and science have come up with a wonderful electronic invention - the remote. Thank you once again for all the good , bad and very bad reviews :D ... Keep watching Rosebowl and have a wonderful post-onam week.

Bollywood strip club

To see actors being really passionate about their acting is a good sign but not to an extent where people feel embarrassed to watch them even if the 'role demands it'. John, Neil, etc are some of the brightest actors of the future of our Filmdom. Though I am very supportive of most of the things they come up with nudity is something I do not support. Their justification is pretty convincing but even if the role demands, to watch it on screen with your parents... or even friends it's embarrassing. Maybe it's my mindset. Reality is not necessarily required to be copied on screen. Something’s are understood or they could cover it up in a way that it is understood. It's moving in a too-fast pace. The growth from flowers kissing each other has now brought us in a situation where we get to see love making even before wedlock. Even if we say that people have moved on and have started to support pre mature sex and old traditions have died, onscreen it's a different picture altogether. I don't support premature sex but I am sure that those who support also will not be comfortable watching it with their parents .There is a line drawn to mark a certain saturation point and when that is crossed it's a feeling of being a stranger. Almost all have a goof body to flaunt but when used in the right time at the right situation it doesn't feel awkward. One of the finest examples is Chandni Bar. Be it a two piece or no pieces I wish I soon become comfortable watching all this or soon I will be ditching the movie theatres near my place.

It pissed me off when so much hype is created about a movie with just a big star cast and no script. I never go to watch them and I am glad that public is giving thumbs down for such a heap of waste. I admire Bebo's wardrobe in Kambakht Ishq but I am glad that it was not declared a hit just cos of Stallone and Richards. I guess people have developed a sense of understanding the criteria for a hit movie. It's not about making a serious cinema like Black or something jazzy like CC2C..It’s about providing a story out of it. In some movie of the recent times I just love the acting of some of the superstars but it's such a disappointment to call a friend after the movie and tell him/her that I didn't get the story!

And another thing people should avoid is comparing movies Khamoshi should not be compared to Hum dil de chuke sanam and nor should Ore Kadal be compared to Ritu. They are fresh in their aspects and just show the various interpretations of the director's ideas on that subject. Being one of the singers of Ritu, people shoot questions like why was Asif shown as a gay in the movie. Apparently it was irrelevant. But my take on that subject is that it is relevant. Depends on one's perception. His gay shade was not portrayed cos of the recent hype created about the laws regarding gay rights. Sharath is a friend who believes he knows his friends better than himself and that no one knows him the way he has learnt them. At the point when he is told by some fellow worker that Sunny is a secretly a gay ,it's a moment where Sharath feels that the value created of his friendship is all gone. It' a moment when he self realizes that he never knew Sunny. It actually indicates that what we always see on the outside is not true. So he being a gay attributes a lot to Sharath's evaluation on the understanding he had about his friendship. It took him that long to realize it and that is the importance of Asif being a gay. To each his own.. This is just what I understood from the movie.

Nine @ Night will have some special interviews this whole week cos of Onam. I am not sure about which one will be telecast when. But tonight at 9 PM in Rosebowl channel we have Naresh Iyer opening his heart out. And on the 2nd of September we have 'The Big Onam Splash' on Rosebowl itself from 8 30 AM to 9 30 PM... catch it if possible.. Will be uploading most of it online anyways... till then advance Onam wishes...Ciao!

'Nine At Night' videos available !

The show I am hosting for Rosebowl Channel, Nine at Night is one of the best experiences I have had so far.I wanted to upload all the videos in my video blog but just never had the time to do so..

Today I was simply checking out few videos on the net and I found that the one I did with Cello Sekar and Ramesh Narayan ji were already uploaded in asianetindia.com

Do have a dekko

Here goes the links

Cello Sekar: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/cello-sekhar-part-1_60893.html
Cello Sekar part 2: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/cello-sekhar-part-2_60895.html

Rameshji: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/ramesh-narayan-part-1_61307.html
Rameshji part 2: http://www.asianetindia.com/videos/ramesh-narayan-part-2-2_61302.html


*TIA*

World Music Day - Rosebowl

Check out the World Music Day special On Rosebowl tomorrow from 11 am to 9 pm..again a 10 hour Telethon!!

Anchors are:
Lekha Sreekumar, Roshni, Sidharth Nair, Neha Nair and Tao.

Do not miss it .. and do send in your valuable comments !!!

A chat with Balabhaskar

The moment I was told that I am suppose to interview Balabhaskarji I was excited because I am his biiiig fan.. from the time I have heard him in the Soorya Fest. So last night I was busy googling about him and got in touch with some of his close friends to get some itsy bitsy masala stuff for the show. I was told that he would reach by ten and I reached Mascot Hotel ,the venue around ten. The wait is horrible but when you know it's for someone special it's worth it. In between Venu Nagavalli sir had come there for an interview and since he is my distant relative I went up and introduced myself.. Apparently my face is familiar :) God knows how !! By around 11:30 am we were getting anxious about why he didn't arrive on time and voila! he was waiting for us from the past one hour on the other side. Why was there no communication done between the producer and Baluji is still a puzzle in mind... Anyhow the shoot started and I had rehearsed my introductory lines about him. On the side he was testing his violins and was tuning them. I was extremely conscious at first but he is soooo smiley and so natural that he makes you want to be a kid. I mean we were literally giggling and smirking and I was making why-are-you-so-humble-looks for which he returned I-am-born-humble smiles :D The best part of this session was his explanation about one of his works namely pa-less. It was one work which was appreciated by his Guru and it was a small thing that he composed in Vasantha ragam. As Vasantha is a raga that does not use panchama he names his piece pa-less :D :D... Now I don't really have to explain about his humor! One of a kind I tell you! I made him communicate through his violin a lot and he also made me sing. I hate to sing when I am not the guest or the 'main' person. But my producer was hell bent on me singing and blah blah so I eventually sang a Hariharan ghazal. It will be telecasted on Rosebowl pretty soon and will update you on that!

Great news!

for all Rosebowl channel lovers! as a survey has been put up ,a Market Research for the channel. All enthusiastic fans do participate in the poll in order to give the channel an opportunity to be innovative. All you need to do is to click in the link below and accept the right one from the choices.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=ck12VW9VbzY5ZGR4Wm4yZ3RmWkNqX0E6MA

Ciao till then !!!

Like I had promised you I have finally got a little portion of the Rosebowl show 'Thank you for the Music - A tribute to A.R.Rahman' uploaded in you tube and I have posted it in my video blog. Thanks to Vishnu Vishakh for uploading this !!!

Click HERE to view it.


Catch it's paper write up HERE.

Have uploaded the pics of ...

... Thank you for the music!- A tribute to a living legend A.R.Rahman....

Click here to view the pics.

Thank you for all the lovely feedback .. and it was a show that was decided by the Producer, Kadamba Rajesh at the last moment. We did want to include songs like minsarapoove, theekuruviyil and ek mohabbat but sadly the videos were of poor quality. I hope you all had a great time watching it .. Hope to do something like this once again in the future...adios amigo..

P.S.Do give in your valuable suggestions here..

Rosebowl - Thank you for the Music!

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC! - A Tribute to A.R.Rahman!!


It's a 9 hour Telethon first time on Indian Television exclusively on ROSEBOWL. Watch it on the 1st of May from 12:30 pm to 9:30. We'll be playing the 100 greatest tracks of A.R.Rahman and please note that we are not being judgemental...cos every song of the Maestro is the best! But this is a list of some of the best songs of his career. I hope you all have a wonderful time. The show will also be re-telecasted on the 3rd of May before the commencing of the Jai Ho! Concert in Calicut... Try not missing this and your valuable feedback will be appreciated... Thank you and have great fun!

Check out the Promo:




P.S. I am anchoring the show :D