A Malayali nightingale in the making

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For Athira Murali, music has always been a part of her life since the age of five and is a way of living for her. She is a familiar face for Malayalees because of her reality show stardom which she received at a young age. Athira participated in light music, ghazal, kadhaprasangam, vrindavadhyam and ganamela, and won prizes in the Kerala University Youth Festival.

“This is my second time participating in the youth festival. Last year, I had won first prize in light music and second prize in ghazal. This year, I sang the ‘Yamuna Nadi’ song in the light music category and am yet waiting for the results,” said Athira.

Athira’s life is strongly rooted in music as the whole family is packed with musicians, including her brother and father. She claims she was awarded Unni Menon Yuva Gayaka Puraskaram, Akashvani folk song award and is also a B grade music artist at Akashvani.

Athira recently sang in a Malayalam film called ‘Vallikettu’ directed by Jibin Edavanakkad in which her father Punalur Murali did music direction. “Reality shows gave me a platform to start my career in the field of music. It is good to see people recognising me even after all these years while performing at the Karyavattom campus. My brother is a tabla artist and has bagged prizes in the State School Kalolsavam for four consecutive years. I am currently trained in Hindustani music under the tutelage of Ramesh Narayan and Carnatic vocals under the guidance of guru Adoor Sudharsanan,” said Athira.

In the future, she plans to build a career in the teaching profession along with continuing music as her passion.