The lullaby ‘Unni Vavavo’ penned by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri and composed by Mohan Sithara for the 1991 movie ‘Santhwanam’ has become a hit again, thanks to Bollywood power couple Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor. Alia, during a recent TV show, revealed that Ranbir Kapoor learned the Malayalam lullaby ‘Unni Vavavo' to put their daughter Raha to sleep.
Mohan Sithara is happy with the recognition the song has received beyond regions and languages. “Everything is God's blessing,” said the veteran composer. He revealed it was 'Santhwanam' director Sibi Malayil who wanted Mohan to compose a beautiful melody that exudes the enchanting charm of innocent love, while invoking nostalgia among listeners. Kaithapram got hooked to the word‘vavavo’ that was sung as dummy lines by Sithara during the composition.
Even though there are multiple versions of the song sung by K J Yesudas and K S Chithra, the one rendered by Chithra became a superhit. “Chithra’s version became popular probably because it is faster that the one sung by Yesudas. Even tough Yesudas’ rendition too has the same tune, that version is filled with pathos compared to the female version,” he said. He noted that he didn’t compose the song in any particular raga even though it sounds similar to the ‘Sankarabharanam’ raga. He, however, wanted to create a tune that could be easily hummed by the layman.
Meanwhile, the orchestra was composed carefully as it was a lullaby meant to soothe a child to sleep. The makers were particular that a sleeping child shouldn’t wake up with a shudder when they hear the song. So, only a handful of instruments like the tabla, dolak, violin, veena and flute have been used in the song. Mohan Sithara revealed this could be a reason why the song became popular in concerts immediately after the release. The song was recorded at the AVM theatre in Chennai. Three years ago, the remastered version of the song was uploaded on YouTube. Interestingly, the new version has so far garnered more than 10 million views, 43,000 likes and around 3,000 comments. Most of the comments appreciate the creators of the song and the artists who have worked in it.
