Malayalam rock band Thaikkudam Bridge’s new music video, ‘Kalliyankatt Neeli’ is a take on the popular folklore character

Thaikkudam Bridge collaborates with Mohan Veena maestro Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt in ‘Kalliyankatt Neeli’

Giving a new interpretation to the story of Kalliyankattu Neeli, a blood-sucking vampire from Malayalam folklore, is music band Thaikkudam Bridge with their new music video, ‘Kalliyankatt Neeli’.

The power-packed song is one of the tracks from their album, Namah, released in 2019. Composed and sung by Govind Vasantha, the frontman and violinist of the band, the song is written by his sister, Dhanya Suresh. “The song was composed for my YouTube channel much before we conceptualised Namah. I have always loved the concept of the yakshi (a female vampire) and similar dark themes. So I made this tune and sent it to chechi (elder sister) to write the lyrics,” he says. He adds that the song had a different orchestration then. The band has collaborated with Mohan Veena exponent Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt for this song.

The video has come in for a lot of praise for its old-world feel. “That is because we have shot it in film. It was my dream to use the format and, in this case, it complements the timeline of the story. In the West, many musicians are opting for film instead of digital for their music videos,” says Naren Ajith, director of the video.

Govind adds: “We had our apprehensions about using film. It was expensive and we didn’t have enough to finance the video then because there were no shows on account of the pandemic.”

Naren adds. “Using a film is expensive and has its limitations, especially when it comes to retakes. So we rehearsed the scenes for a week before the shoot started.”

He comes with the experience of having worked with Littil Swayamp, director-cinematographer of Thaikkudam’s popular music videos, ‘Navarasam’ and ‘One’, and films such as Parava and Varathan. “The script was ready in 2019 itself and by the time the project got rolling, I had rewritten it several times because I wanted to present it in the current context. The narrative captures Neeli’s state of mind when she comes face to face with her past and she avenges her death at the hands of her husband,” Naren explains, adding: “Neeli’s story sends a message to women to remain strong and not succumb to atrocities and violence.”

Shot by cinematographer Janamejaya Daroz, it features Chennai-based Bharatanatyam dancer Simran Sivakumar in the lead.