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Lyricist hits out at Kerala Sahitya Akademi for ‘insulting’ him over state anthem
A war of words broke out on Sunday between veteran lyricist-director Sreekumaran Thampi and Kerala Sahitya Akademi over the penning of ‘Kerala ganam’
Kochi: A war of words broke out on Sunday between veteran lyricist-director Sreekumaran Thampi and Kerala Sahitya Akademi, the apex literary body, over the penning of ‘Kerala ganam’ or the state anthem.
Thampi claimed that the Akademi pressured him to write the lyrics for a song that would be sung as the state song at official government functions. When submitted within a week, the Akademi functionaries asked for some modifications which Thampi made. But since then, he said that there was no response from the body on whether his lyrics were accepted or not. Later, he came to know through the media that the Akademi called for submissions from other poets for the state song.
“When the Akademi first approached me to write the song, I declined. But then Aboobacker (Akademi secretary) said, ‘If not you, who else?’ That’s why I wrote the song. Later, I also made the corrections they asked for. But then why did they put out the request for more submissions from others? Isn’t it equal to insulting me?” asked Thampi, who has written hundreds of songs for Malayalam films and is a recipient of the JC Daniel Award, the highest award by the Kerala government for contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Thampi said he would upload the version of the song he wrote on YouTube and allow the public to decide if it is worthy to be considered as the state song.
Meanwhile, K Satchidanandan, president of the Akademi, said no one in the committee approved the lyrics of Thampi as they were considered “cliché”.
“No one in the committee thought Thampi’s lyrics were appropriate for the state song. His song contained phrases and usages that could be termed as cliched or old,” said Akademi president Satchidanandan.
At the same time, the committee is reported to have approved the lyrics of BK Harinarayanan which will be tuned by Bijibal.
“The committee cannot take the final decision. Once we approve the song, it will have to be ratified by the culture department and the government,” said Aboobacker, Akademi secretary.
Culture minister Saji Cheriyan said the department will investigate what happened regarding the song penned by Thampi.
“I will speak to him and clarify what happened. I will not run away from my responsibility. As for the Kerala ganam, the state government will decide the final version,” he added.
