How Malayalam music director Mujeeb Majid exacted Tamil vintage vibe in 'Kalamkaaval' songs

Mujeeb Majid has been a name to reckon with in the Malayalam film industry for quite some time now, having associated with films like ‘Mandharam’ (2018), ‘Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam’ (2021), ‘1744 White Alto’ (2022), and others. He rose to prominence with coming-of-age films like ‘Kishkindha Kaandam’ and ‘Rekhachithram’, released last year. What brought him back into the spotlight is his haunting, emotive score in the latest theatrical phenomenon ‘Kalamkaval’, directed by Jithin Jose and starring Mammootty and Vinayakan in lead roles.

Casting an eerie spell over the world of Stanley Das, the character played by Mammootty, Mujeeb was able to conjure a surreal mood and metaphysical milieu as the narrative unfolded. Meanwhile, the songs in the film, while adding to its noir theme and capturing the zeitgeist of the 90s, infuse the air with melody and romance. In a brief chat with Onmanorama, Mujeeb, taking time out from his work on the background score of the upcoming Roshan Mathew–Arjun Asokan starrer ‘Chatha Pacha’, speaks about his creative journey and the process behind his entrancing songs and background scores.

Mujeeb’s love for music began at a very early age, and he learned most aspects of music arrangement and programming on his own by reading books, talking to experts, and exploring online resources, long before studying sound engineering in Chennai.

He sought something fresh each time he embarked on a new creative journey. The song ‘En Vaighai’, sung by Sindhu Delson and Sreerag Bharathan, is one such experiment. In the song, he placed the middle portion, the anupallavi, at the beginning and the intro, the pallavi, at the end, tune-wise. “The usual pattern is to follow the pallavi–anupallavi–charanam structure. I thought of breaking that. I just wanted to try it and see how it works, and the result was great,” says Mujeeb in his soft voice.

In addition to the retro vibe, the songs carried an Ilaiyaraaja-like touch, leading many to wonder whether they were reused or remixed versions of older tracks, especially at a time when films have been revisiting classic Tamil music following ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ in ‘Manjummel Boys’ and the more recent ‘Kiliye Kiliye’ from ‘Lokah: Chandra Chapter 1’. Mujeeb agrees. “Yes, many felt they could be old Tamil songs. They are original compositions, but we wanted them to have a vintage tone, as the character Stanley Das is revisiting incidents from decades ago and listens to old Tamil songs,” he said. “It was not just Ilaiyaraaja, but all great Tamil music directors were in mind while working on the film’s music,” he added.

Until he heard Sindhu Delson, Mujeeb had been searching for voices reminiscent of P Susheela and S Janaki, singers who carried the texture of old Tamil music. “When I heard Sindhu Delson’s voice, I was reassured that we could bring alive the old Tamil era in songs like ‘Nilaa Kaayum’, ‘Mannanai’, and ‘En Vaighai Nadhiye’. I suggested that she listen to those songs as references,” he said, adding, “I had everything I wanted.”

As for the lyrics, which played a vital role in evoking the old Tamil era, Mujeeb credits director Jithin Jose for shaping the idea of how the words should feel. “All credit goes to Vinayak Sasikumar, who penned the beautiful Tamil verses. Of course, some lines were changed or words replaced to suit the tune and vice versa, but overall the lyrics played a crucial role in achieving the nostalgic impact,” Mujeeb said.

“We haven’t used any old instruments to create the vintage effect. Instead, we used different techniques. For instance, we didn’t clean up the recorded voices and relied mostly on raw sounds,” Mujeeb explained. To recreate the sound of older instruments, he tweaked tunings in programmed instruments using plug-ins to match those commonly used in the 80s and 90s. “For recording drum beats, we used older types of microphones to avoid too much clarity and make it sound closer to old recordings,” he said.

When asked why he infused depth, emotion, romance, and melody into the song ‘En Vaighai’, even though the male character did not demand it, Mujeeb said the song was centred on the women characters. “They are innocent, romantic, and hold deep love for their partner. The songs align with their perspective,” he said.

Before wrapping up the conversation and returning to the studio to resume work on ‘Chatha Pacha’, for which the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio is composing the songs, Mujeeb credited his piano teacher Jimmy Mathew from Thrissur for teaching him the basics of classical music and cited A R Rahman as his biggest inspiration. “I am a Rahman fan to the core and grew up listening to his music. His work has deeply influenced me and my love for music,” said the Thrissur native.