Cochin Mansur — Music Encyclopedia from Kerala.
What else, can we call this humble personality? “Music Encyclopedia”.
The genius who knows more than 15000 songs by heart! And out of this 15000, 9500 are Malayalam Film songs and the others are festival songs, light music, Hindu devotional songs, Christian devotional songs, Muslim folklore songs, Drama songs, etc.
I lend the words of the legendary singer Dr. K.J Yesudas who has recorded more than 80,000 songs in his career of 5 decades, “ I can’t even sing a single song without referring, and here is Mansur who knows all my songs by heart and he also knows all the credentials like who was the lyricist, music director, actors, name of the film, which year, what awards they got, and other interesting facts that revolve around each song etc. Undoubtedly, this is a blessing of the divine.”
One keyword that should be used when you get to know about Cochin Mansur and that is “records”. Cochin Mansur is known for his attempt to inscribe his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for singing 19 hours and 30 minutes continuously. He sang 253 songs by heart. Mansur’s target was 24 hours but as time marked 19 hours and 30 minutes, he started spitting blood. Climate conditions and overstrain on the vocal cord resulted in such an outcome. Mansur couldn’t speak for the coming five days.
Now, let me invite you to this stupendous journey of Cochin Mansur right from the start. The first performance of Cochin Mansur was at the age of 10. He was inspired by his mom who was a Muslim folklore singer. Mansur went on to participate in various competitions and had a genuine interest in music, acting, mimicry, and painting.
Mansur became a part of Kalabhavan focusing on mimicry, performing with today’s well-acclaimed Malayalam Movie Director Rafi & Actor Kalabhavan Haneef. From Kalabhavan, Mansur shifted to Cochin Oscar where he performed with Late Movie Actor Abi and Malayalam Movie star Dileep, Malayalam Movie Director Nadirsha, Ronald, etc. Mansur also performed with the troupe Cochin Sagar!
Mansur didn’t miss any opportunity to fulfill his dream to perform in Drama and did so from the year 1988 to 1991 in a professional Drama troupe named Cochin Sanathana where the dramas used to be directed by the Late Movie Actor Rajan P Dev.
Those were days when Mimicry was at its peak, and Mansur used to be called both for singing and mimicry. “Cochin Chorus” troupe main singer whose name is Chorus Peter advised Mansur to concentrate on singing than on drama and mimics considering that Mansur had a good voice and memory power to sing songs without referring any book. In another instance, when Mansur performed in Mumbai along with playback singer Unni Menon, Unni Menon advised Mansur that singing by heart is not a piece of cake and his focus should be only on singing. It was then that Mansur decided to set aside other interests such as painting, acting and mimicking and focus only on singing.
Mansur’s first solo performance as a singer was in the year 2001 at Kelamangalam Tharavaadu, known as a shooting location for Malayalam movies. Mansur’s Godfather is none other than the Late Film Actor Captain Raju. Yes, you guessed it right, the actor who has acted in more than 600 films and also the first Malayalam movie Captain wrote and directed was “Etha Oru Snehagatha” in the year 1997 with Tamil Superstar Chiyaan Vikram and Laila in the lead roles. Together they did a lot of programs in Bangalore, Bombay, Madras, etc. Both of them had an equal passion for those evergreen Malayalam songs. Mansoor recollects a statement made by Captain that, “Mansur! you are a messenger. Your duty is to popularize these evergreen songs”.
Today, Mansur is considered as the 5th son of the Vayalar family and he is called as Manu Varma. Vayalar Sharat Chandra Varma, the elder son of Vayalar considers Mansur as his brother. Another interesting fact is that, for the past 15 years, Mansur has been singing Songs penned by Vayalar continuously at Vayalar’s residence on his death anniversary and the date is October 27 from 2 p.m to 6 p.m. It is a sheer dedication to Music that brought him close to the Vayalar family and also other eminent legendary musicians like Singer P. Jayachandran, Music Director M.K Arjunan, Lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi.
Mansur also says that the most demanded song till date by the public has been the song “Manushyan Mathangale Srishtichu”( Humans created religions) from the movie “Achanum Bappayum” (Achan means father, Bappa is the Muslim name for father) released in the year 1972, for which Dr. K.J Yesudas and Vayalar received National award. Today, Mansur has two photos at home, one is of Vayalar whom he calls Achan (father) and the other is of Abu whom he calls Bappa (father).
2003, Vayalar’s wife Bharathi Thamburatti gifted a book to Mansur that had the writings of Vayalar.
2004, The first copy of the book “Indradhanusinte theerath”, written by Vayalar’s wife Bharathi Thamburatti was given to Mansur.
2006, Mansur sang for continuous 5 hours.
The same year, Mansur sang for a continuous 7 hours.
Again the same year, Mansur sang for continuous 10 hours.
2007, Mansur sang for a continuous 15 hours.
2012, Mansur sang 50 songs of Yesudas as a tribute for completing 50 years of the musical journey.
2013, October 27, as usual, Mansur sang for the 40th Death Anniversary of Vayalar. The Vayalar family gifted a ring to Mansur which had Vayalar inscribed on it.
2014, Mansur created magic by singing songs of three lyricists such as Vayalar, P Bhaskaran and Sreekumaran Thampi with 2 hours each for a total of 6 hours.
2014, Mansur sang continuously for 12 hours by singing songs penned by Vayalar, P Bhaskaran, Sreekumaran Thampi and Yusufali Kecheri.
2016, Mansur sang 100 songs of Vayalar for 10 hours continuously.
2016, Mansur sang 50 songs of Sreekumaran Thampi as a tribute to his 50 years of journey as a lyricist.
2019, Mansur sang 30 songs which were pictured on Film Actor Prem Nazir on January 14 as a tribute to the Evergreen Actor, marking his 30th death anniversary.
2019, Mansur sang 50 songs for 5 hours continuously of movies in which Late Actor Prem Nazir not just acted but also lip synced.
2020, Mansur sang 40 songs which were picturized on Late Actor Jayan.
2021, Mansur sang 81 songs of Yesudas continuously for 8 hours on January 10, 2021 celebrating 81st birthday of Dr. K.J Yesudas.
On the first death anniversary of M.K Arjunan Master, Mansur sang 30 songs continuously for 3 hours on April 11.
Mansur also sang 51 songs in the same year which were picturized on Late Actor Sathyan, marking his 50th death anniversary.
In the same year, on 4th September, Mansur sang 30 songs which were picturized on Late Actor Vincent, marking his 30th death anniversary.
In the same year, 2nd October, Mansur sang 51 songs composed by the evergreen Vayalar (Lyricist)— Devarajan(Music composer) team for 5 hours.
On December 5, 2021 Mansur sang 60 songs of Dr. K.J Yesudas within 6 hours marking his musical journey of 60 years.
All the above are records!
Singing on stage is not a new concept that we have witnessed, Isn’t it? But the question is, has there been any singer who sings among the audience with all the songs by heart and also according to the demand of the audience which means the songs that he sings is as per the choice of the audience and more than that gives the entire details of the song including the name of the characters involved in the movie. Today, Cochin Mansur is a familiar name among Fine Arts Societies, Arts Clubs, Temples, Churches etc.
That evergreen music right from the year 1961 to 1992 which includes lyricists like Vayalar, P.Bhaskaran, SreeKumaran Thampi, Yusuf Ali Kechery, ONV Kurup, Bichu Thirumala. And there were writers who went unnoticed but Mansur had his attention on them . Also, musicians like Devarajan, Baburaj, M.K Arjunan, Dakshinamoorthy, K.Raghavan. And so many other musicians who went unnoticed but Mansur had his attention on them. Mansur also says that all this is the play of the Divine and it is not his merit. Also, singing in various stages is a passion and to educate the audience with those classic evergreen songs of the past, Mansur considers him as the chosen one. Mansur also states, it is not about money or fame but you can call it dedication or devotion.
Mansur also did his bit by singing 3 hours continuously at A.K.G Vaayanashala to contribute to the Disaster Relief Fund. The program was organised by “Cochin Mansur Fans Association”. More than 100 people took part in the function and donated money and various other things to help the flood affected regions.
Mansur recently launched an audio in Youtube titled “A prayer for the Supreme Lord”, which was written by his student and composed by him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu_qYHaMbSs&t=1s
You can contact Cochin Mansur : + 91 98463 19045
