ONLY TAMIL NOW

It was a surprise to see you in a music video with a new hairdo, singing and acting. Earlier, you preferred to keep a low profile. And never indulged in any kind of showmanship on stage. What motivated you into this dramatic change?
It was Bharat Bala and Kunika who suggested that I sport a new hairdo for the music video of Vande Mataram. They wanted the album to reach out to more people, that’s the idea behind the music video. I had done a stage show in Malaysia sometime ago, and it gave me the courage to do this music video.

How did Vande Mataram happen?
It’s a long story. I had gone to Mumbai to attend the Screen awards a couple of years ago. When I was sitting in my hotel room alone, the idea struck me, and I discussed it with my friend Bharat Bala, who was game to go ahead with it. Since the time I composed music for Roja, I had been thinking of working on music that would evoke patriotic instincts in Indian minds. The idea eventually took off last year.

What was your wife’s reaction to the new look?
(Laughs). She liked it and so did my mother. After I do one more music video, I will go back to my old look.

Many feel that Vande Mataram is an indication of your drift towards non-film music, since you are now more keen on such music?
Actually there have been times when I felt that I should get out of the rut of film music, but at the same time I like film music. I enjoy doing film music. When I had started out as a composer, I hadn’t thought of limiting myself to success just in India. I wanted to find a foothold in the international scenario. With Vande Mataram I achieved my goal. Sony and their experience in marketing worldwide gave me the lead. They want to do more albums with me. But for the time being I want to concentrate on my film assignments. Insha Allah, I might do different things later.

Does it hurt when a film with hit music fails at the box-office?
So far I have seen only two of the films I scored music for completely - Roja and Rangeela. I deliberately don’t see them because if the film is not upto my expectations or if I find that the song situation is not what had been described to me, I get upset. And it affects the work on hand. Luckily, these days music and film buffs have become very choosy. They don’t accept sub-standard work. They expect a good theme and excellent technical quality. So I have made it a point to hear the story of the film before deciding to compose music for it. Fortunately, the new breed of directors are full of ideas and are open to experimentation.

Your use of new and raw, and at times unsuitable voices has evoked a lot of flak. Udit Narayan, for instance, was totally unsuitable for Rajnikant when he sang the Thillana thillana number in Muthu?
Why should any actor or actress sound like S.P. Balasubramaniam, P. Susheela or Chitra? Why can’t a new singer sing in his own raw voice? It’s the done thing in jingles and non-film music. Only in films, they insist on an established voice. I ventured to break the convention and the public has accepted it. Maybe it’s different with a star like Rajnikant. But then, I feel, in Muthu, Udit’s voice would have gone well with Rajnikant if the song had been picturised in the situation narrated to me originally.

Is it very difficult to compose music for a regional film when the producer expects to market it in the national market?
It’s been a big problem. But I have now decided that if I compose music for a Tamil film, I will target it to the Tamil audience and not for the whole world. Unlike Hindi music, which has a Hindustani classical base, Tamil music draws from Carnatic music. I did Yodha in Malayalam, and was to do Kala Pani, but when the same director offered me Kabhi Na Kabhi, I opted for it. In future, I want to concentrate more on Tamil films.

You have been referred to as a composer who plays around too much with computers. Comment.
Do they expect me to continue living in the 19th century? What is wrong in resorting to modern technology? You have to keep pace with the world around. A computer I bought six months ago had three minutes’ waiting time to get started, but today’s computers take just three seconds to start. I can now record my music on a hard disk and carry it around, and synthesise it with any kind of ethnic music anywhere in the world. If we are to compete globally, we have to be in step with the times. But you have to hold yourself back from going overboard.

You are said to be planning some stage shows?
Yes, in Delhi, Bangalore and Mauritius very soon.