‘How much will you pay me, I need money’: Inside the recording of 'Empuraane' with Alankrita

The track ‘Empuraane’ from the movie ‘L2: Empuraan’, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and starring Mohanlal, has taken on the internet by storm. Music director Deepak Dev has revealed the story behind the song, featuring Prithviraj's 10-year-old daughter, Alankrita Menon Sukumaran.

In an interview with Veena Mukundan, Dev recounted Alankrita's endearing demand for remuneration after completing her recording. "After Alankrita finished singing, she asked, 'how much will you pay me?' and I was like, 'I never paid your dad'," Dev said. "But she said, 'no, no, no, I will need money.' So I was like, 'I'll give after everything is done'."

Dev said that he had prepared gifts for Alankrita, knowing her interests. "We had asked and prepared for the things that she liked. She liked to read, and Prithviraj had said that she really likes Harry Potter. When I gave her some Harry Potter toys and some flowers, she was starry-eyed. I too have daughters at home. So with that experience I gifted her."

The recording itself took place remotely via Zoom, with Alankrita and her mother, Supriya, in Mumbai, Prithviraj in another and Dev in a third location. "On one window I was there, on the other Prithviraj and Alankrita and her mother Supriya reached Bombay for the recording, which was seen in another window...I just had to tell her the emotions through which her verse is sung, and she delivered it in the right way."

Dev also shared a light-hearted anecdote about Prithviraj's introduction of him to Alankrita. "I had to make her comfortable first. So I asked her, 'Ali, how are you, where do you study?' and such like that. Prithviraj came in between and said, 'Ali, this is Deepak Dev, he is the music director, he is my enemy, be very careful of him. Don’t let him get to you, he is very dangerous, be very careful of him.' But then she did her part very well."

Dev stated that the decision to feature Alankrita's voice alongside Anand Sreeraj's "growling, devilish" vocals was intentional, aiming to portray innocence in contrast to the darker tones.