Anna Baby was one of the first few people to watch K.G.F: Chapter 2 when it released in Kerala. She had been waiting for the moment for one-and-a-half years. The singer based in Angamaly, Kerala, has lent her voice for the melody ‘Gaganam Nee’ in the Malayalam version of the film. “Listening to my own song in a cult film such as K.G.F felt like a dream,” says Anna.
It all began when her friend music director Sam Simon George asked her to send a few of her vocal samples as music director of K.G.F Ravi Basrur was looking for a Malayali singer. Anna sang the female portion from the song ‘Dheera dheera...’ from K.G.F: Chapter 1 . “Within a day, I was asked to go to Ravi Basrur’s studio in Mangaluru. This was in October 2020, during the peak of the pandemic. But we didn’t have much time to think. My husband and I packed our bags and left for Mangaluru for recording,” she says.
It all happened so quickly that Anna had little time to process it, she says. “The song had to carry a certain intensity and feeling and I was a bit tense. But it came out well and Ravi sir was happy with my singing. I consider it a huge compliment.”
Emotional number
The song appears at a crucial juncture in the second half of the film. “The song rides on a mother’s emotions and it had to carry that power,” Anna says.
Anna, who worked as an engineer in Kochi for a year, decided to quit her job and pursue music full time. Though she had “been around” in the music industry for a while, K.G.F. is her first real break in mainstream film music, says Anna. She has brought out a couple of singles, devotional songs and covers. Anna has sung the lead song with Yesudas for the 2017-film Sthaanam. Anna has a YouTube channel, too.
Anna has been learning Carnatic music from the age of six and is learning Hindustani classical music, too.
“I have been receiving a lot of positive feedback from listeners for ‘Gaganam Nee’ and it is indeed a proud moment. It also comes with a sense of responsbility. This is just a start,” says Anna.
