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His voice is best suited for the expression of emotions. He gets to the emotional content of the lyric and his gentle voice, noted for its depth, leaves the listener spellbound. There is a haunting lilt to some of Unni’s Malayalam songs like “Thozhuthu madangum sandhyayum” (Akshrangal) or “Ormayil oru sisiram” (Gandhi Nagar II Street), which I feel no one else can present so penetratingly. Unni was born at Guruvayur on December 2, 1958, to V K S Menon (rtd DSP) and Malathy. He did his schooling at Guruvayur and Palakkad. With great indebtedness, Unni Menon speaks of Benny Master who taught him at the Mission School, Palakkad. It was Benny Master who discovered the singer in him. Master formed a ‘gana mela’ troupe in the school in which Unni was the lead singer. He participated in competitions and walked away with the first prize while at school and later in Victoria College.
He often took leave and went to studios to “watch the recording”. In fact, it was his deep admiration for “Dasettan” (K J Yesudas) which attracted him to the studios. The visits also helped him become familiar with almost all the singers. Some of them introduced him to music directors. And then came his chance to sing track for Yesudas. B A Chidhambaranath was the music director. After that, he sang tracks for many music directors. They liked his voice so much that they began to wonder why he should be hidden away as a track singer. Yesudas too had the same opinion and he declined to undo many tracks done by Unni. This was in the early ’80s. When songs like ‘Olangal thalam thullumbol’ in ‘Kadathu’ and ‘Vala kilukkam oru vala kilukkam’ in ‘Munnettam’ became hits, Unni got many offers, even from Tamil. In Tamil, he has sung a dozen songs for Illayaraja under the pet name ‘Vijay’ which the music director gave him. After 1985, Unni felt that he was being ousted from the film field. He decided that he could not depend solely on film songs and therefore founded Alaap Studio in Kochi in 1987. (Later he started Spectral Sound of Music in Chennai.) After ’87, Unni was neglected by the Malayalam film industry. Why is it that such a talented artiste is neglected? “I am a failure in marketing myself. That maybe the reason.” Maybe. But Malayalees have been witness to many mediocre voices becoming ‘most sought after’ thanks to the politics prevailing in the film field.
Unni has sung 25 songs for A R Rahman and all of them became hits. “I feel it is God’s blessing for the many years of hard work”. Unni’s pronunciation of Tamil is easily the best among singers from other states and he attributes it to the flexibility of Malayalam. He learnt Carnatic music under Dr S Ramanathan, Chidhambranath and others. Now he is studying under Jayachandran. He has not yet performed his arangettam in Carnatic music and plans to do it next year. “I want to be more mature in classical music”. Unni is famous for his stage programmes. He charms the audience with his voice and body language, which is backed by the dance he has practised. He has done stage programmes in the US, the UK, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore and so on. His devotional songs have a good market in Tamil Nadu. Albums like ‘Panchajanyam’ and ‘Sudarsanam’ are popular. Unni has bagged many awards, the chief of them being the Tamil Nadu government’s Best Playback Singer award (1997) for his song in the film ‘Minsara Kanavu’. He has sung more than 500 film songs in different languages. Unni Menon married Sashila in 1983. They have two children – Ankul and Akash. “Singers don’t get their deserved position in films,” he says. The songs are released months before the film. They give a significant advertisement to the film. In a way, the singers advertise the film. However, they are kept at bay on many occasions. To cite an example:
I believe no film industry can turn down Unni’s voice. How long can the Malayalam film industry keep this blessed singer back? The day will come when the Malayalam film field will welcome him again. - Salil Jose Readers' response/inputs can be e-mailed to salil@chennaionline.com.
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Just listen to songs like ‘Enna vilai Azhake’ in ‘Kaadhalar Dinam’, ‘Nathiye nathiye’ in ‘Rhythm’ or any other song sung by Unni Menon and you cannot help being moved by the romantic voice. Unni’s is the most romantic voice I have ever heard, perhaps you too.
After graduation, Unni Menon got a job at the Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi, Chennai. The singer in him was out of sync with the machines. His sole interest was music but he did not have the courage to make it his profession.
If the Malayalam film industry suppressed Unni, Tamil came to his rescue. He got a break with ‘Pudu Vellai Mazhai’ in ‘Roja’. “In fact, A R Rahman gave me life. It is Tamil which saved me,” he says.
While the names of the actors/actresses and others appear at the beginning of he film, those of the singers often appear among the sundry titles at the end and these scroll on as the seats are emptying. Singers know this, but don’t express their feelings for fear of losing chances.
