Holding court with musical notes

KOCHI: Some people think of doing something differently and one such person is Advocate Subal J Paul who stands out in the crowd. Though an advocate by profession, Subal has tried his hand in cartoon, theatre, music and cinema. He has appeared in a handful of movies like  Kanathaya Penkutty (1985), Ennum Eppozhum (2015), Baskar the Rascal (2015), Lord Livingstone (2015), Two Countries (2015), Fukri (2017), and CIA (2017).

Subal is a trained keyboardist and has won many prizes in youth festivals. He had a keen interest in music right from his childhood and learned to play keyboard, which was an inception towards his musical journey. However, when Subal’s song was uploaded in YouTube on 22 December 2017, it was a surprise for Jerry Amal Dev (Malayalam music director), who is also Subal’s cousin. Subal learned keyboard  from A M Paul, father of Malayalam film director Lal (Siddique- Lal fame) and music director Alex Paul. A M Paul was involved in the formation of what was perhaps the first orchestra troupe in Malayalam.
Subal has been staging drama and music show (gana mela) for more than five years for annual day  at Kerala High Court, where he is practising. Besides this, he presents music show at Maharajakeeyam (Old Student’s Association Meet, Maharaja’s college).

On January 8, 1989, when Subal enrolled for LLB in Ernakulam Law College, media celebrated the incident. It is common to find mother and son in same class as teacher and student. But it is very rare to find a mother and son in the same class as students.

Like Subal, his album is also one of a kind. Lyrics, music, concept and direction of this album is handled by him. However, he does not consider it as a huge task. Unlike other Christmas songs, Alapanam conveys a crucial message to society. It calls for people to act against alcoholism. The opening scene of the song itself establishes a bickered family, an adverse effect of alcoholism. Subal, being a lawyer handles family matters and has drawn inspiration for Alapanam from the various cases that comes to him in the family court.Subal Paul’s wife, Sheeba Paul is a pivot for Paul’s professional and artistic life and Alapanam is a milestone in his journey to success.