Kuttanad's lyricist extraordinaire: Remembering Mankombu Gopalakrishnan
If poetry and song are a harmonious couple, they will be a delight to the ears. A good lyricist has a good grasp of the poem and the song. Mankombu Gopalakrishnan, who passed away the other day, contributed countless songs to Malayalam that will be remembered forever because of his talent and imagination. Basically, this Kuttanad native was a poet. He wrote and published poems while still in school. Backwaters, canoes, ducks and fields enriched that imagination. He showed one of his poems to Vayalar at a function just to get his opinion. A week later, Vayalar's letter came saying, "The poem is good." Mankombu kept those words in mind as the greatest recognition he had received in his life.
Vayalar Ramavarma was the editor of the magazine 'Anveshanam' published from Madras, and Mankombu was the co-editor. Mankombu's first step was through the film 'Vimochana Samaram' at a time when Vayalar, O.N.V. and Sreekumaran Thampi were all shining as lyricists. Although the repertoire of poetry and songs are the same, the lyricist's skill lies in choosing the most suitable word combinations. Mankombu's songs are notable for his innovative word combinations evoking the desired imagination. His deep knowledge of Puranas and folk songs helped him a lot.
Mankombu love songs like 'Pranayathinte laksharchana kandu thozhuthu madangunna' was completely different from anybody else's lyrics at that time. It illuminated Mankombu's literary life. The fact that he named his own house "Laksharchana" itself indicates that emotional connection. Songs like "Kalidasante kavyabhavana", "Nadan paattinte madisheela kilungunna naattinpuram", "Palaruvi naduvil pandoru pournamaasee raavil", "Thalipoo, peelipoo", "Aashadamasam aathmaavil moham", "Neelamegha kuda nivarthi", "Chumarukalillaathe chaayangalillaathe", "Ee puzhayum kulirkaattum", "Raajasooyam kazhinju", "Aalila thoniyil muthinu poyvarum" have stuck to the Malayali mind like the coolness of the breeze.
The music of talented artists like Ilayaraja, G. Devarajan, Shankar–Ganesh, M.K. Arjunan, M.S. Viswanathan, Ravindra Jain, Kannur Rajan, R.K. Shekhar, and Keeravani have featured the lyrics of Mankombu. Mankombu have penned about five hundred songs, stories for six films, scripts for four films, translations for songs from many hit films including 'Baahubali'. Mankombu's song 'Gangayil teerthamadiya krishnashila' matches well with his creative vision. Film songs are written for an imaginary emotional moment within the movie. However, only if there is a poetic undercurrent to them could they survive time and generations. We share the grief of his family and the Malayalam language at the passing of Mankombu Gopalakrishnan, who dedicated such a memorable collection of songs to Malayalam.