Marking Pride Month, a love song in Malayalam

Amor (The Tune of Love) depicts the romantic relationship between two men.

Amor (The Tune of Love) is an old-world love song full of longing, tenderness and a hint of despair. The music video, released on YouTube on June 5, is a tribute to the LGBTQIA+ community and its release marks Pride Month, observed from June 1 to 30 worldwide. 

The song in Malayalam depicts the romantic relationship between two men. “Though originally written in a heteronormative perspective, the song seemed ideal to be adapted to same sex love,” says Jijo Kuriakose, director and producer of the video and a gay artist and photographer based in Kochi. “We have explored the emotional aspect of gay romance in a way that it appeals to a wider audience,” he adds.  

Written and composed by Tissy Mariam Thomas, a teacher of psychology at the Kerala University campus at Karyavattom in Thiruvananthapuram, the song dwells on a human being’s basic need to love and be loved. “We, as humans, have experienced love in our own ways. The way the song looks at love is as something that comes and goes, meeting you in different forms in different stages of your life,” says Ms. Thomas. “It is as pleasurable as it is painful, but it always comes back to you,” she adds. 

An author, who is also undergoing training in psychoanalysis, Ms. Thomas shared the song with her friend Mr. Kuriakose, soon after she composed it. Mr. Kuriakose felt the lyrics and treatment would work well in the same sex love setting. “It was a different experience for me as I had not envisioned it as a gay video, but working with Jijo helped me see the song in a different perspective,” adds Ms. Thomas. 

The crowd-funded video, which took a little over a month to be completed, features Younas Mariam and Ratheesh Sundar. Sung by Duttu Stanley, the song has been programmed, mixed and mastered by Adarsh S. Nath. Thaai Prasaath has handled the camera and editing is by Sarun Surendran.