A new beginning for Sithara Krishnakumar

Seems like this is the season to set trends in the Malayalam industry. With Sayanora turning composer recently with Kuttanpillayude Sivaratri, it is now Sithara Krishnakumar's turn to debut as music director. Music direction is a path relatively untrodden by women, and the industry appears set for a new beginning with these pathbreakers. Sithara has composed the music for Unnikrishnan Avala's Udalaazham with Mithun Jayaraj.

A fruitful journey

Sithara says the journey has been a very fruitful one for her. "Director Unnikrishnan Avala first approached me for composing for his documentary. And, when this project materialised, he wanted me to do this as well. Since Udalaazham deals with a sensitive topic, that of a tribal transgender person, we had no prior templates. But, the role of music here is to lure the people into the movie," says Sithara.

The track Poomathe Ponamma has already been released and the rustic beats are winning hearts. Sithara says, "There is a rhythm in the song which reflects their lives. The track is intense and at the same time melodious. That said, the orchestration used in the song is quite urban."

However, she says the duo really didn't need much research to compose the tunes. "Mithun and I worked on the poems written by Unnikrishnan. He has done a passionate research on the story already. We also read his work Vipareetham on the story of a tribal man Raju who led a similar life," she adds.

Of the three songs, the lyrics of two were written by the director himself, except the Poomathe Ponnamma track which was composed first and written later. "Manu Manjith researched about the myth of Poomathe Ponamma before penning the song and it is beyond beautiful," she says.

But, has composing turned more technical these days? Sithara says, like any musically-trained person, she could easily conceive a tune. "But, we need an orchestration for it. A tune needs a plane to exist. Midhun had the technical knowledge of music production and programming. We also communicated with musicians about the designs. We made it through despite our limited knowledge," she concludes.