After his success in 2020 Dulquer Salmaan-starrer Varane Avashyamund, ace musician Alphons Joseph is now working on Leo Thaddeus latest directorial, Panthrand.
The playback singer turned music composer has joined hands with his friend Leo in the multi-starrer film which features Dev Mohan, Shine Tom Chacko, Lal and Vinayakan among others.
Panthrand will be Alphons’ cinematic adventure after a year-long hiatus brought in by the pandemic. The movie’s audio rights are bagged by Sony Music. Recently, the movie’s audio tracks that were released on various digital music platforms had garnered the attention of the music buffs. The lyrics penned by Joe Paul and Harinarayanan come alive with the vocals of Shahabaz Aman, Zia Ul Haq and himself.
Alphons has also brought in new voices like Rexband - fame Hector Lewis, Oarali band fame Martin and Anna C Xavi, an aspiring singer from his music school, Crossroads. Though the film falls in the action-drama genre, Alphons wishes to call it a musical, as it has six Malayalam and two English tracks.
“The plot is based on the lives of 12 gangsters who live by the seaside and how their life changes when Dev’s character, who is a musician, comes into their life. Although it’s an action movie, it has rich musical elements. Apart from the use of the Oud, the middle-eastern string instrument, we have given prominence to various sound samples from nature,” says Alphons.
He is also the music director for Aparna Bala-murali’s upcoming flick, Sundari Garden. According to him, the song Melle En Pranayam in the film is one of his favourites. As a musician, bringing in new voices was refreshing for him, adds Alphonse. Independent musician Hector Lewis rendered the title track of the movie, Padakal Unare and the English song All Alone in Ocean. He says the film has a retro mood. “Nowadays youngsters are more into western music and such.
The two English songs, Darkness and All Alone in Ocean were penned by Leo’s daughter, Lilly, who is a Class 10 student. The child mesmerized me with her beautiful meaningful lyrics which added to the essence of the film,” says Alphons. With the participation of new vocals like Anna in the film, Alphons is also helping independent music prosper, which he believes is the need of the hour. “The outlook people have towards music is changing.
The backup of a prolific music label for independent artists is still lacking, but many youths are coming up with independent projects which are receiving more audiences with the help of YouTube and social media platforms.
Also, there is a need to ensure quality in this independent music,” he says. To mentor the independent musicians, he plans to provide degree-level courses in global music production through Crossroads in the coming years. Alphons is now working in the music department of an upcoming Hindi film.