Edava Basheer

Some Lesser Known Facts About Edava Basheer

• Edava Basheer was an Indian playback singer and musician, who was known for his work in the Malayalam music industry.

• In his childhood, Basheer lived at the Sam Geethalaya at Kadapakkada Prathibha Junction, Kollam for around two decades.

• Before attending formal education at Christuraj School, Pattathanam, he studied at a parish till 8th standard.

• He developed an interest in music when he found some old records and a record player that his father brought from abroad.

• He started participating in music competitions and bagged several prizes during his school days.

• After completing his schooling, he studied classical music with Ratnakaran Bhagwatar and Vechoor Harihara Subramaniam.

• While doing his Ganabooshanam, an academic degree in music, from Swathi Thirunal Music Academy, Thiruvananthapuram in 1972, he sang in chants and started the All Kerala Musicians and Technicians Association with his friends.

• He was the State President of the All Kerala Musicians & Technicians Welfare Association.

• After completing his Ganabooshanam, he started singing professionally.

• His choir became a hit.

• He also starred in troupes such as Raga Bhavan and Blue Diamonds.

• He floated a music troupe ‘Sangeethalaya’ at Varkala In Thiruvananthapuram, which was inaugurated by his idol, K.J. Yesudas, who is one of the most reputed Malayalam singers.

• Apart from singing in choirs, Basheer also did playback singing for various Malayalam songs.

• He marked his debut in Malayalam playback singing with the song Veena Vaayikkum in director Adoor Bhasi’s movie Raghuvamshami in 1978.

• He also did playback singing for the songs Azhithira Malakal Azhalinte Malakal’ and ‘Vani Jayaram’ for the Malayalam movie ‘Mukkuvane Snehicha Bhootham’, which became very popular among the audience.

• He also regularly performed at all the temple festivals across Kerala.

• According to Basheer, he preferred singing on stage to playback singing because it gave him the opportunity to interact with his audience. His song ‘Akasaroopini, Annapoorneswari’, which is a song that praises the goddess Durga, was one of the most demanded songs at his stage performances.

• He was known for innovating his performances with music to entertain his audience. He used several Western and Eastern musical instruments such as Corg’s Japanese mini synthesizer, Yamaha’s echo mixer, double-deck keyboard and organ, 12 – string guitar, Roland’s rhythm composer, Jupiter synthesizer, and piano accordion, which were novel to the Malayalee listeners at that time.

• Reportedly, Basheer was the first singer to perform state-of-the-art musical instruments, including the accordion, on stage in Kerala. He was also the first one to introduce Yamaha’s synthesizer, mixer and echo in the music system.

• Basheer loved travelling abroad and due to his profession, he got numerous opportunities to perform across the globe including in the United States, United Kingdom, European countries, middle eastern countries, and far eastern nations.

• During the peak of his career, his fandom was to such an extent that he used to perform at up to 4 venues in a day.

• He was invited as a guest performer at an event to mark the Golden Jubilee of a popular music troupe, Bhima’s Blue Diamond Orchestra.

• It was a Saturday night and Basheer was singing the Hindi song ‘Mana Ho Tum Behad Haseen’ by K.J. Yesudas from the 1977 film Toote Khilone at around 9:30 when he suddenly collapsed on the stage.

• This brought a halt to the celebration, and he was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

• His funeral was held at Kadappakada Juma Masjid on Sunday, 29 May 2022.

• The demise of Basheer saddened his fans and his colleagues from the industry, who passed their prayers and condolences through social media. Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan conveyed his condolences on Bashir’s demise and said,
  

  The demise of Edava Basheer, who played an important role in popularising ‘ganamela’, is a huge loss to the music world,”