Kay to be you!

KOCHI: We need our role models to be life-sized,”says Anna Katharina Valayil aka Tribemama Mary Kali over the phone from her home in Kottayam, about the skewed beauty concepts we have been fed all our lives. The playback singer who rose to fame in 2012, has become one of the brightest, most progressive voices in South Indian music over the last two years. She released Freakay in 2020 and Bless Ya Heels earlier this year, and they all deliver one strong message with a voice of conviction - be you, unapologetically.

After Bless Ya Heels came out, Anna was approached by Bollywood’s Katrina Kaif to make a video for her brand Kay Beauty. “It was hard for me to believe at first. She messaged me on my Instagram page and for almost two days, I found it hard to wrap my head around it,” quips Anna. “For as long as we can all remember, the entertainment industry has wanted dolls, not women. Normal Indian women are curvy, we are brown, we are short and we are filled with imperfections, and yet, all our on-screen examples have fair porcelain skin and perfect bodies. It is these unrealistic standards that make most of us feel out of place. It stops us from appreciating who we are and embracing our skins,” she says.

“Are you easy with your cool? And is the world easy with your heat?” she sings to the beat by Da Architecht and Parimal Shais. However, Anna’s last song ‘Bless Ya Heels’ did touch some less-favourable nerves soon after its release. The video, where Anna and her tribe of women appear in traditional attire had sparked off a controversy among conservative cyber bullies, but the artist is hardly bothered by it. “The way I see it, convincing society to break away from an age-old thought process is not easy. The resistance would get to me only if I allow it,” she says. 

The video, cooked up by Lendrik Kumar-Prayoon Sajeev hit-maker duo based in Bengaluru, features three generations of Anna’s family. “It has been a blessing to work with content creators who don’t look for artificial perfection, but instead, allow all of us to be the confident, diverse people we are,” says the artist. Apart from her, Becky Valayil, Ruby Ruksana, Preethi Alex, Neha Nikhilberdy, Mini Varghese, Lil Raysha and lil Rahel, Daya Ashwathy and Amrutha Varsha have brought the elegant frames to life.  

“When I released Freakay last year, there were times when women in my apartment building wouldn’t make eye contact with me in the elevator. From there, to have my mother and my own daughters featured alongside me on this video, proves to me that we are making a wave. The change may be gradual, but we need to create a more real, accepting world for the future generation of women,” she says. Nikhil Vijayan is the executive producer and Becky Valayil designed and stitched the costumes. Priyanka Jose Artistry handled the hair and makeup, Narian Kishore worked with stills and Ghaxly was the production assistant for the campaign.

IN MANY COLOURS   
 “It has been a blessing to work with content creators who don’t look for artificial perfection, but instead, allow all of us to be the confident, diverse people we are,” says the artist. Apart from her, Becky Valayil, Ruby Ruksana, Preethi Alex, Neha Nikhilberdy, Mini Varghese, Lil Raysha and lil Rahel, Daya Ashwathy and Amrutha Varsha have brought the elegant frames to life.