I make the effort to upgrade myself, says singer Unni Menon

Unni Menon on adapting to the changes in the music industry and working with new-age musicians

Unni Menon, the singer with the evergreen voice, is on song. He has that zing in his voice while talking about how fruitful 2022 has been for him. Right up there is the groovy, dance track ‘Rathipushpam’ composed by Sushin Shyam in Bheeshmaparvam; ‘Kural Kekkutha’, a breezy Tamil song from Hridayam scored by Hesham Abdul Wahab, was also on the charts . Songs from Avial (‘Manjin thooval’, a duet with KS Chitra) and Karnan Napoleon Bhagat Singh (‘Kathorthu’) were the other songs that got noticed in spite of the films not doing well.

In Tamil, he has four songs ready for release. Of that one is a duet with Bombay Jayashri, composed by Harris Jayaraj for The Legend. “We last sang for him 16 years ago – ‘Partha mudhal’ in Vettayadu Vilayadu. I hope this song will also be loved as much,” says the Chennai-based singer with a four-decade career in the film music industry.

So what has kept him in good stead all these years? “It has been all about adapting to changing times. I make the effort to upgrade myself. Otherwise I will be outdated. I have tremendous respect for the new generation of musicians. I find it easy to work with them. There is no friction in the recording sessions and so there is a homely ambience, similar to the vibe I got while singing for Rahman [AR Rahman],” he says.

The singer, who made his debut in 1981, stresses that singing for new-age musicians is a learning experience. “I have seen both the worlds in music production – the old and the new. The present crop of musicians are exposed to music from across the globe and that reflects in their style. I believe there is so much to learn from their attitude and approach to music, be it in singing or composing,” says Unni.

Going back to the success of ‘Rathipushpam’, Unni believes that although he has not had such a viral hit in the recent past, he does not want to take the credit for its success. “It was Sushin who took the song to another level. The song had a retro feel and my job was finished in half an hour. I would say my contribution was just 10%. Whatever magic that happened on screen is because of Amal [director Amal Neerad], Sushin, the lyricist [Vinayak Sasikumar], choreographers and the actors,” he says.

‘Kural Kekkutha’ was yet another memorable outing for him with the film’s director, Vineeth Sreenivasan, after the melodious ‘Thiruvaavani raavu’ from Jacobinte Swargarajyam, composed by Shaan Rahman. “That song will be played as long as Malayalis celebrate Onam. ‘Kural kekkutha’ had a different vibe to it. After I finished recording, I kept whistling the tune in the studio and Vineeth wanted to use that as well in the track. That made it all the more interesting,” he recalls.

The singer admits that it has not been smooth sail for him. He remembers a phase when he hardly had any songs in Malayalam. It was Rahman and Roja that resurrected his career at that point of time. His duet with Sujatha, ‘Pudhu vellaimazhai’ turned out to be a colossal hit. He went on to sing 27 songs for Rahman, which include songs in Puthiya Mugam, Thiruda Thiruda, Karuthamma, Minsara Kanavu, Uyire, Kadhalar Dinam and Rhythm.