“I had almost decided not to sing the track,” says Mridula Warrier while talking about the song that won her the award for the Best Female Singer at the 53rd Kerala State Film Awards. The song ‘Mayilppeeli ilakunnu’ from Pathonpatham Noottandu, has been composed by M Jayachandran, who also won the State award for the best music director.
“When I listened to the track sent to me by MJ sir in his voice, I knew that it was not going to be easy to render it. The song is a dance number, but a semi-classical one with many tricky jathis and swaras. Besides the right expression, the song called for energy and vibrancy in my voice,” she says.
Mridula recalls that as the recording progressed, she was not satisfied with her singing and decided to give up. “I was willing to practise the whole day and make it right. But I was worried about wasting sir’s time. With a heavy heart I told him that it would be better if I didn’t sing it. Had he agreed, I would have left! But he didn’t say anything for sometime. Later, he told that he gave me the song because he knew I could sing it. He motivated me with stories about other artistes. That changed my mood and the rest of the recording went off smoothly.”
