click here to read part one

Part 2 - 'Music' of Kalavaramaye Madilo

Now that the audio is released and (I am sure) everyone is enjoying the music, let me share a few interesting titbits’ associated with the making of the music for Kalavaramaye Madilo.

My first choice of Music director for this film was Iliya Rajaa garu, second choice was Keeravani garu… both did not fit into the budget of the film. The other name for consideration was Mr. Radhkrishna.

While we were discussing about the names, Mr. Mohan the producer of the film proposed the name of Mr. Sharreth. I asked him, is he the same person we see on Asia net channel as a judge. He said yes.

Without batting an eyelid I said he is our music director (why? refer to my earlier article). Mr. Mohan immediately called him and I spoke to him… Mr. Sharreth was our music director.

In a couple of days Mr. Sharreth came to Hyderabad. I told him the story, He liked it very much. I wanted 8 songs in the film. He was excited, but there was a catch, it was, he has to compose the second song in the film with mistakes. I also told him, sir I need a song people can connect to, a song which sounds good to a normal audience. A song which can become very popular, yet it should have mistakes… He said, with mistakes, but why? I explained the need of it. He laughed at me but agreed, because he understood the need, for the story.

Next was who will write our lyrics..

Good music requires good lyrics, period! They go hand in hand. While I understand that we live in a world of flashy visuals and electronically generated music, a time where lyrics are increasingly becomingly redundant. My story needed lyrics that could compliment and contribute to the spirit and soul of the movie. It was as important to me as everything else. I did not want to compromise an inch even. Many names cropped up. There were suggestions to distribute the songs amongst the lyricists we had filtered. I was against the idea. I wanted only one lyricist for this film, a person who understands the story and who can dedicate unstinted commitment for this movie, with his pen and his thoughts, a person who will own the script and give me all that he has including time.

My Co-director Mr. Srivastav suggested Mr. Vanamali’s name. Without any further discussion he was in our team.

The first tune Mr. Sharreth gave us was the title song.

http://idlebrain.com/images4/kvm.mp3

When Mr. Vanamali wrote the lyrics and the song was ready …. It was a dream comes true for me. The first song of my career… what a song it turned out to be. Everyone’s favourite without any doubt..

The climax song took the maximum time to write and to compose. I wanted the song in a particular way. I had to tell a lot of story, there was a lot of drama happening in that song. Though Sharreth sir gave me a lot of beautiful tunes, but none suited my imagination. We were running out of time and we were going nowhere. So I told Vanamali garu to first write the lyric and then we will work on the tune. It was not an easy task for him.

After writing the first five lines the pen was not moving any further. There was a block…. He went back to the script read it once again, again and again, after 20 days he came up with the climax song…what a song it is, everyone who has heard it and can decide how good the song is. When you see it in the theatres you will understand how well he was in sync with me and my story… fantastic… looking forward to work with you Vanamali garu in many more projects to come.

The choice of singers for this film was only two, Sunitha garu to sing the first few songs and the climax song to be sung by Chitra garu. I felt their voice cultures were close. Because I believed if the character in the film is a singer then we should have one kind of voice for all the songs. One day we said why not only chitra garu for all the songs.. Sharreth sir said ok.. Mr. Mohan the producer said ok. So the legendary, the one and only, Isai Kuyil , Chitra garu (Tamil word, Isai means music and Kuyil means Koel ) sang all the songs for the film, except the ‘o nene’ piece, because Sharat sir and I decided to introduce a new singer called Kalpana. Though Chitra garu was supposed to sing this song also, but we liked Kalpana’s voice so much what we dint feel like changing her voice. We went with our instinct. It’s another story that it turned out to be true. Listen to that mellifluous number and you will understand what I just said.

There is this one incident that I must share with you. We had recorded all the songs. There was only one remaining (Tholi Tholi..song), the song that had to be rendered with mistakes. Chitra garu was waiting in the recording room; Vanamali garu and I were waiting for Sharreth sir to record that song. Sharreth sir seemed to be doing everything else but record that number. I began to feel a little restless. I looked at Vanamali garu and realised that he was feeling the same uneasiness. I asked him to speak to Sharreth Sir and find out, if there was any issue. Vanamali garu asked Sharreth sir, about his predicament. Hesitantly Sharreth sir said, ‘I don’t know how I should ask such a great singer to sing a song with so many mistakes. Let’s get some other singer to sing this piece, please’.

I completely understood and empathised with Sharreth sir’s dilemma, but i knew why i wanted Chitra Garu and why I wanted only her to render the song. I told him that I will speak to Chitra garu and convince her to sing that song. He was a little relieved. He said ok. Vanamali garu and I went into the recording studio, and told her the story line of the film. She liked it very much; she said it is very interesting. Then I told her that the second song has been purposely composed with subtle mistakes in it and that she will have to sing the song with those mistakes. She was taken aback and in her usual cherubic smile said ‘aiyo, Do I have to sing a song with mistakes’. I said yes and explained to her, the importance of that song in the film, the purpose that song in the film.

Hats off to her! After listening to what I had to say, she said ‘If that’s the requirement of the subject, I will sing it sir… let’s do it’ and she got up. Sharreth sir was a relieved man.

It’s very difficult for geniuses to commit mistakes, and more importantly on purpose. It’s a herculean task for people of such talent. They don’t understand the ‘m’ of mistake, and I was asking her to do it consciously. In hindsight I realise and appreciate what Chitra garu had done. Let me take this opportunity to thank her. Thank you Chitra Garu! You did something that’s against your personality and talent, for a story that I believed in. Thank you once again.

By the way, the maximum time she took to sing any song in this film was for this song…

At the end of the day, I take a bow to this genius called Mr. Sharreth … thank you for the wonderful music you gave for the film Kalavaramaye Madilo.

All the songs in the film are situational…. They either tell a story or take the story forward. Listen to them and have fun. Give me your feedback. Both bouquets and brickbats are welcome.

So bye for now… enjoy the music… by the way there is a surprise waiting for you while you are watching the film… what ?,, can’t wait till then .. Want a clue…God you people are impossible… ok what the heck.. Please look out for the background score... :)

-Satish.Kasetty

You can reach Satish at [email protected]