Cinema VinesVeteran music director and lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi took to Facebook on Friday to criticize Union Minister Suresh Gopi for failing to credit him when the minister sang the song “Keralam Keralam” in Parliament. Thampi said he was pleased that Gopi highlighted Kerala’s official status and performed the line “Keralam Keralam, Keli kottuyarunna Keralam,” but noted that the minister omitted the lyricist’s name, calling it a slight to a “servant” who had written the piece.
In his post, Thampi highlighted the minister’s reference to Malayalam literary and musical stalwarts such as M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Johnson, Vayalar and G. Devarajan, yet he pointed out that Gopi did not mention Thampi himself. He suggested that the minister might have found Thampi’s name difficult to pronounce, and instead referred to him merely as “a great poet.”
Thampi also recalled his early association with Gopi’s acting career. He noted that he produced and directed the 1980 film Yuvajanotsavam, starring Mohanlal, in which Gopi played the main antagonist. When Gopi expressed a desire to become a hero, Thampi encouraged director I. V. Sasi to cast him in Aksharatthettu, a film for which Thampi wrote the screenplay, dialogues and songs. The film marked Gopi’s debut as a hero, a role that Sasi had originally considered for another young actor. Thampi remembered a call from Gopi’s mother after the film’s release in Kollam, thanking him on behalf of the family, and remarked that “one should not expect gratitude from anyone.”
In a sarcastic tone, Thampi warned that Gopi, now 86, might have forgotten these incidents but hoped the minister would recover from any alleged memory problems. He also pointed out that the lines “Bandhuvaaru shathruvaar, bandhanathin novariyum, kilimakale parayoo…” were written by him, and suggested it would be fitting for the Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas to quote them occasionally.
