Singer Mridula Warrier on the Kerala State Film Award, reality shows and her band

Here’s an interview with Malayalam singer Mridula Aarrier on winning Kerala State award and reality shows

“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.”

The singer, settled in Thrissur, adds that she, however, did not expect an award for the song. This is the second state honour for Mridula. She won special mention at the film awards in 2013 for ‘Laali laali’ from Kalimannu, also composed by Jayachandran.

“Semi-classical numbers are rare in films these days. In fact, it is a time when the number of songs are coming down in movies. In some cases, they don’t even use the complete song in the movie. Under such circumstances, I feel lucky that such a project happened and I got to be a part of it,” she adds. The film, directed by Vinayan, is a period drama based on the life of Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker, a warrior and social reformer.

Music reality shows brought Mridula into the limelight. When she was in class 10, she was the first runner-up in Saptaswarangal, a contest on Asianet. In 2005, she won Onnaam Ragam, aired on Doordarshan; in 2005, Gandharvasangeetham, on Kairali TV. A finalist in Amrita TV’s show, Super Star (2006), she won Star of Stars (2007) on Asianet Plus and was first runner-up of Star Singer on Asianet (2010).

“I can’t claim any legacy in music. So, reality shows were the platforms to showcase my talent and get noticed. That was how I got an entry into films,” she says. Her playback debut was in 2007 with songs in Big B and Goal and she has been actively singing all these years.