Lyricist Vinayak Sasikumar Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Lyricist Vinayak Sasikumar is making waves with his verses. If they created a stir with their songs last year romancham – Earworms like ‘Adaranjali’ and ‘Athamve Po’ – This year it is the Fahadh Faasil starrer passion, in which he wrote eight of the nine tracks. Not only are fans dancing to the high-energy songs like ‘Illuminati’, ‘Jada’, ‘Galatta’ and ‘Armadam’, but the lyrics of the songs are also the talk of the town. “I have fun when I write songs like this. “The fact that the film has done so well makes it special,” says Vinayak.

he points to passion It was no challenge to write funny lyrics for romancham, that too for the same team – composer Sushin Shyam and director Jeetu Madhavan. “But I had to be careful, especially when it came to describing Ranga [Fahadh’s character], For example, ‘Illuminati’ is a song about who Ranga is and it is the height of hyperbole. I had to make sure it didn’t sound exaggerated. So it took me some time to get into that mode,” he says.

Having written several songs, Vinayak says it is not easy to arrive at catchy phrases or lines. “In romancham And passion, I was lucky because I got a chance to work on those phrases. Sushin told me that I don’t need to worry about the meter of the song. In the case of ‘Galatta’, he gave me the pace and asked me to write in sync with it. Once I wrote the lines, he composed the tune. Same is the case with ‘Mathapithakkale Mapu’. I don’t always get the same discount. Then it’s quite difficult to create a hook for a song that matches the tune,” he says.

passion This marks another successful association with Sushin. His projects include Ezra, Rosappu, Maradona, Varathan, Kumbalangi Nights, Bheeshmaparvam, Kannur Squad, Manjummel Boys (one song)And romancham,

Lyricist Vinayak Sasikumar Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Vinayak says that when he knows about the artists or actors who will be featured in the song, it subconsciously influences the writing. “Sometimes I get to see the scene before I write. But sometimes I had to imagine the song and write it, as was the case with ‘Illuminati’. In ‘Najan Jackson Allada’ [from Ambili]I was given a brief information about Soubin of ace [Soubin Shahir] And their dance moves,” he explains.

Since beginning his career at the age of 18, he has written for over 110 films. Kuttiam Kolam (2013), Vinayak says that it is difficult to predict whether the songs will be noticed or not. “In sweet boy, I wrote a song, ‘Thai Manam’; The lines are close to my heart. But, it did not reach the audience like the other songs of the film. it happens. In passionI was sure that the songs would grab people’s attention as there has been a lot of buzz about the film.

When needed, Vinayak also does research for his songs. He mentioned about Jayasuriya’s upcoming mega project, Kathanar – Wild Magician, which is under production. “Since the characters do not speak in colloquial, current Malayalam, I had to do a little research in consultation with the director and writer. I wanted to use the dialect used in the film in the lyrics of the song as well. to sing in Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, I read a lot of Malayalam proverbs related to women. I did it out of curiosity and eventually became addicted. I was shocked to see that some of them were so regressive and anti-women!” He remembers.

When Vinayak was asked about the practice where a song is not completely picturized for a film, he said that he has no problem with it if he is informed about it in advance.

The lyricist says that there were instances when such songs were well received by the audience. “In bhishmaparvam, I had a song, ‘Parudisa’. ‘Rathipushpam’, which was featured as a film song within the film, was intended to be a passing track. But the team promoted it so well that it went viral. That was a bonus,” he says.

Vinayak says it has been a fruitful journey in the industry. “I feel as a songwriter I am in a better place now. I get a chance to work with different styles. Hit films make us relevant and I have also got success. The trust factor with musicians has grown stronger over the years. It was because of that belief that I was able to use the word ‘Illuminati’ in a song. Now I have a better understanding of what each musician wants. Most of all, I am enjoying the freedom to express what I want to say.”

He argues that songwriters should be acknowledged. “A lyricist can never expect to be as popular as a singer or a musician. It would be unrealistic to expect that the public will always know a songwriter’s name. I just want to get credit from a project’s creators, industry people, media, etc.

His upcoming releases include Guruvayur Ambalanadayil, Turbo, Marivelin Gopurangal And little hearts,