Cinema brought them to the same class. Music saw them being organised into a band.

It all began on the eve of last Valentines Day at a rented house in Vytilla, Kochi, when Arun James announced the idea of making a music video to his friends. Excited at the thought, the young brigade of 12 film students at the Cochin Media School kicked off on a zero budget mission to form Thakara. Obviously inspired by the innocent character of Thakara in Padmarajans classic film with the same title, the band has now become the latest sensation on Youtube and even on FM Radio! Thanks to Puttu Paattu, the viral video that celebrates Malayalam rock music on the lines of Kallamakkayas Appangal Embaadum in Usthad Hotel and Avials Aanakkallan. We had decided beforehand that Malayalam would be our medium and exploring rock in the language was definitely a challenge. The vitality in the music, simplicity of lyrics and the rawness of our videos contributed to making us popular, quips an excited Sahad, a Thakara member. He recalls how their first song Podi Penne was composed and shot by bandmates Sibi and Arun James from 5 pm to 5 am under the streetlights at various locales in the city. He adds, The popularity of our music has been so much that we have been getting many offers from the film industry. But right now we are focusing on our next project, Jeevikku. Another band in the same genre is Vidwan that has been around for the past three years. The four piece band from Thiruvananthapuram comprising Ben (Base, Guitars), Yakzan (Piano), Tao (Drums) and Anoop Mohandas (Vocals) has already recorded seven pure Malayalam rock songs. We started at a time when the Jigsaw puzzle band from Thrissur (todays Avial) was taking baby steps in alternate rock music in Malayalam and was getting noticed. Though we too shared a common enthusiasm to work with the so-called rigidity of the Malayalam language, we wanted to stand out through folk and electronic music, says Ben. Shedding light on how the Web is a boon for bands of the day, he quips, Youtube and Facebook have definitely been a major source of support for us. Kaithola paya virichu, dance version of Aalayal thara venam are among Vidwans hit numbers. The desire to conjure up a novel idea that of a Malayalam rock band goes back to Aldrine DSilvas B.Com days in Kolkata. That was a time before the birth of Avial, quips Aldrine, the composer and guitarist of the band who brought together Samson (Guitar), Shibin (Base Guitar), Joe ( Vocals) and Bharath (Drums) to form Roxide two years ago. A budding band that has got popular with songs like Kaalam and Kurukkan has completed 10 Malayalam rock songs and is already a familiar name at the college fests. Speaking about the challenges of the genre, Aldrin says, The toughest part of creating such compositions is to stick to pure Malayalam in the lyrics but adher to real rock music at the same time.!