As people across the world rely on musicians, writers, painters and other artists to seek comfort during these dark times, a music video expressing solidarity in the coronavirus pandemic has sprung up from south India.
Playback singer KS Chithra led 22 singers in the rendition of “Lokam muzhuvan sugam pakaranayi” from the 1972 Malayalam movie Snehadeepame Mizhi Thurakku. While the original version was sung by S Janaki and composed by P Bhaskaran, the newer version which was uploaded on KS Chithra’s official Facebook page has a medley of singers pitching in. The song is a prayer to show the way when humanity is stuck at crossroads and to provide comfort when mankind is suffering.
“When people across the globe are in fear, a few of us have sung one line each from a song, from our own houses. We dedicate this song to you. We see this attempt as a prayer to the Almighty to wipe out COVID-19 virus and to help peace prevail over the world,” says Chithra at the beginning of the video.
Starting the song with her mellifluous voice is Sujatha. Following her cue, singers Kavalam Sreekumar, KS Chithra, Sharreth, Sreeram, Preetha, Swetha, Sangeetha, Vidhu Pratap, Rimi Tomy, Afsal, Jyotsna, Nishad, Rakesh, Teenu, Ravishankar, Devanand, Renjini Jose, Rajalakshmy, Ramesh Babu, Akhila Anand, Divya Menon and Sachin Warrier sing small portions of the song each. Interspersed by visuals of lit lamps, the video ends with the message, “Stay home, stay safe, let us stand together to save the world from this pandemic disease.”
The video has garnered around 4.27 lakh views since it was uploaded on Facebook and has been shared over 10,000 times on social media. Apart from Facebook, the video is also going viral on instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram with the audience appreciating it for its timeliness.