Singer-songwriter Sanah Moidutty has found a silver lining in the pandemic. After a long wait, the Mumbai-based artiste has finally “officially” made her début in Malayalam with ‘Athira Raavil’, which she has sung with K S Harishankar for the upcoming film Anandakalyanam. The song was released on YouTube recently.
Sanah has already made her mark in several languages but she says this milestone feels “special” to her. Born to Malayali parents in Mumbai, her discography and collaborations so far have not boasted any in her mother tongue. This, despite her large fan following in Kerala thanks to her groovy covers of bygone chartbusters in Malayalam.
“I’m delighted about this début. I’m happy to be identified as not just a singer of covers, but also a playback artiste in Malayalam,” she says with a chuckle.
Anandakalyanam has music by Rajesh Babu K. Lyrics are by Nishant Kodamana. Sanah says the opportunity to sing ‘Athira Raavil’ came knocking at her door some time after she released the music video of her cover of ‘Karutha Penne’ from the Mohanlal-starrer Thenmavin Kombathu. “After this, in fact, I also recorded another song for the upcoming Malayalam movie Varayan, for which the music is by Prakash Alex,” says the singer, not wanting to divulge the track’s title yet.
Sanah says the composer was looking for a fresh female voice after recording Harishankar’s portion for ‘Athira Raavil’. Once she came on-board, Sanah recorded her portion in Mumbai. “Singing with such a talented artiste adds value to the project,” she says, adding that the duo has not met in person yet because of the pandemic.
Having grown up entirely in Mumbai, Sanah does admit to needing a bit of assistance with her Malayalam pronunciation. “I speak in my mother tongue at home... but yes, I do face a bit of a problem. My dad helps me out with pronunciation and I often sit with him and get it all cleaned up before I sing a song. As regards playbacks, of course, the respective music director would be there to help me out,” she says.
Three weeks back, Sanah brought out another Malayalam cover — ‘Choolamadichu’ from Summer in Bethlehem, originally crooned by KS Chitra. This time, the video was shot by her sister on the terrace of their home in Mumbai.
Apart from Varayan, Sanah says she has a few covers and originals in the pipeline. Otherwise, as the pandemic keeps her indoors, she has been busy recording scratch vocals (reference tracks for music producers) at home.