Bhadra Rajin with Dr Divya S Iyer | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
As she joins the list of singers who have turned composers with a soulful track ‘Sakhi’, Bhadra Rajin says it happened because “a lot of small things came together”.
The first raga was Thilak Kamod, which he learned from his guru Ustad Faiyaz Khan. “I have been his student for the last 15 years. He comes to Tripunithura from Bengaluru twice a month to take classes. The day he told me the spirit of the raga to be sung at night, I started listening to songs based on it, sitting on my balcony on full moon nights. Suddenly, I imagined the moon and the earth interacting,” she recalls.
Bhadra says that initially she thought that these two were lovers who could never meet. “When I shared this with my sister, Lakshmi Kavu, it was she who suggested why I couldn’t imagine the Moon as a woman and that it was two siblings interacting.”
This idea was relevant to Bhadra who is close to Lakshmi, being five years older than her. “We share all our strange thoughts and ideas with each other. She lives in a world of books. Her idea was that the female body is linked to the moon; changes in our bodies are related to changes in that celestial body.”
Bhadra Rajin Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Although Lakshmi gave her the lyrics of the song, Bhadra sat on it for over a year until she decided to do something about it. “I started working on it out of guilt. But I didn’t know how to do it and that’s when my friend-cum-composer Renjith Meleppat helped, starting with me writing the lyrics in the meter I wanted the song to be in. It took a few days to reach it PallaviOnce I found that, I got there organically Anupallavi And CharanamAs if the universe had handed them to me on a platter.”
Bhadra says that it was Anurag Rajeev Nayan who gave it its present shape with his arrangement and construction. He suggested using an ethnic instrument and that is how the sarod came about. Melbourne-based Indian musician Prashekh Borkar, who was introduced by composer Sudip Palanad, has played the instrument. What adds to the beauty of the soothing raga is the live playing of the strings (by Rithu Vaisakh). The other instrument used is the guitar.
She further says that the song was mixed and mastered seven times [by Mithun Anand] Until everyone is satisfied with the output.
However, he did nothing about the composition for a year. “Sudeep kept reminding me about it. When he presented the narrative for the music video I was overwhelmed because I could connect with it. It is about an academically talented woman who gives up her passion of writing and returns to her home one day when her younger sister is requesting her to get back to writing. This is the story of my sister, whose love for writing took a back seat when she got busy with her profession, first as an IT professional and then as an architect. As I very much wanted to write it and I am happy with it.
Bhadra Rajin (left) with her sister Lakshmi Kavu. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The highlight of the video is bureaucrat Dr Divya S Iyer playing the role of elder sister. “We had approached some of the eminent women of Kerala for this role. Sudeep himself had suggested her name as a singer and writer and she was happy with the role.” The video was shot in Thrissur.
She says ‘Sakhi’ is not just about her and her sister, it also reflects universal brotherhood. “It could be about two friends or acquaintances, one of whom stands up for the other after being apart for some time.”
Bhadra, who found her place in the industry music mojo Kappa series on TV, notably with his band, Storyteller, working with Sudeep, has sung in films such as ’96, HridayamAnd dubbed versions of many films. The biggest hit of this year has been ‘Kokkodelic’ together,
She has already composed her next song. “Now I understand the gravity of that process. The satisfaction you get as a musician when you create your own song hits another level.”
‘Sakhi’ is streaming on YouTube
published – December 05, 2025 03:10 PM IST