In the height of summer, the four hours of melody at the packed Swapna Nagari Ground in Kozhikode was like a summer shower.
‘Neelambari,' a musical show in memory of lyricist Gireesh Puthenchery, wasn't just star-studded, but rich in content as well. It is not every day that you see just about every leading singer in Mollywood performing on one stage.
They were all there – Yesudas, P. Jayachandran, Chithra, Sujatha, G. Venugopal, M.G. Sreekumar, Srinivas, Shwetha, Manjari, Gayathri, Rimy Tomy, Devanand, Vijay Yesudas, Biju Narayanan and Afzal. Film directors Sathyan Anthikad, Ranjith, Jayaraj, Kamal, Lal Jose and V.M. Vinu were joined by music directors Ilayaraja, Johnson, Ouseppachan, M. Jayachandran, Raghukumar and Rajamani to pay homage to Gireesh.
And the glitter was added by the presence of stars such as Mohanlal, Dileep, Nedumudi Venu, Kavya Madhavan, Padmapriya, Samvritha Sunil, Manoj K. Jayan and Biju Menon. ‘Neelambari' was perhaps the largest meeting of talents in Malayalam cinema in recent years.
Noble cause
The fraternity was out in strength for a noble cause: to raise funds for Gireesh's family.
“Gireesh was in dire straits and I thought the film fraternity should do something for the family of a man who had given Malayalam cinema so many hit songs,” said director Ranjith, but for whom ‘Neelambarai' would not have happened at all. He had conceptualised the show and invited every star and singer to participate.
“I am glad that the show became such a huge success and that we could meet our target financially (Rs. 50 lakhs to be presented to Gireesh's family),” added an overwhelmed Ranjith.
Popular songs
‘Neelambari' featured more than 30 of Gireesh's popular songs, which were introduced to the audience by actors or directors, who shared their memories about him with the audience.
“I find many songs performed here had featured me on screen. Gireesh was one of my many friends here in Kozhikode, which has always been a second home to me. Now I when I think of this city, I feel saddened by the departure of Gireesh,” an emotional Mohanlal said.
Director Kamal recalled the birth of ‘Pinneyum pinneyum…' (‘Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranaya Kalathu'): “I got precisely what I wanted from Gireesh with that song; he was particularly good at writing suitable songs for situations in record time.”
Ilayaraja spoke about his first meeting with the lyricist.
“When he came to compose the songs for ‘Kalapani,' he asked me what gift he should give me for having tuned so many of his favourite songs. I said he could give me his word: a promise that he would never touch a drop of alcohol.” Gireesh, however, didn't keep his word.
But it was with that song Ilayaraja composed (‘Attirambile kombile…') that Sreekumar and Chitra began the programme. Among the several songs that were rendered were ‘Amma mazhakarinu…' (Yesudas), ‘Kanakamunthirikal…' (Venugopal), ‘Kannu nattu…' (Jayachadran), ‘Ethrayo janmamayi…' (Srinivas and Sujatha), ‘Aarorol pular mazhayil…' (Vijay and Rimy Tomy) ‘Karimizhi kuruviye…' (Devanad and Sujatha), ‘Deena dayalo…' (Gayatri), ‘Yamuna veruthe…' (Swetha) and ‘Thamara kurivkku…' (Manjari).
A song written as a tribute to Gireesh by Kaithapram and composed by Thej Mervin was sung by Sudeep Kumar.
It was indeed a moving homage to Gireesh from his hometown and his colleagues in cinema.
