Malayalam poet and lyricist Ajeesh Dasan has struck gold once again with Pandathe Aamina, released on YouTube by Avenir Entertainment on the eve of Eid. Noted Malayalam music composer Afzal Yusuff's rendition and music make the song even more irresistible.
In Pandathe Aamina, Ajeesh, who is known for wrapping deeper emotions in simple words, talks about the joy and pain of memories of a lover. Unlike classic love songs that sing about the departed, in Pandathe Aamina, Ajeesh has made a departed lover sing about his lost love who is a lifetime away from him.
If one traces the roots of the song, it would lead you to the mylanchi/henna plants (Lawsonia inermis) in full bloom at the burial grounds of a mosque in Ernakulam. The seeds of the lyrics were sown in Ajeesh while he was attending a burial there. "It was midday, the sun was scorching the ground. On the burial ground I saw a group of blossomed mylanchi plants and it seemed like they were providing shade to the departed souls. I felt that these mylanchi plants might remind those departed men of the henna on the hands of their beloveds," described Ajeesh about how the lyrics were born.
Thanks to the makers of the song - Irshad M Hassan, Afzal and others - for giving Ajeesh the full freedom to develop the idea for a song!
Afzal's composition is simple and straight and has pangs of yearning in it which would strike the deepest chords in the listener. While taking special care to avoid all the extra commotions, the harmonium, flute and sax pieces that Afzal has added in between, gives the song an old-school beauty. Having said that, tabla would have made it more appealing to gazal purists and lovers of M. S. Baburaj.
If the listeners feel like being shifted to one of the plots of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, the Beypore Sultan, don't blame yourself; for the song has a distinct Kozhikode-feel to it which cannot be explained but can only be felt.
Pandathe Aamina is a Malayalam gazal you should have in your playlist.