Whether it was the sarcasm-soaked ‘Pachcha Manja …' or the scintillating ‘O Magaseeya', the songs of Tamizh Padam gave the impression that its composer, Kannan, would soon go places. Both director Amudhan and Kannan opened their innings with Tamizh Padam , a complete spoof that drew attention for the novelty of the genre among other things. Shiva was the hero and the film did brisk business. But a composer going into hibernation after a successful debut is rather strange!
“I'm very busy making music for seven films,” Kannan contends. His latest audio to hit the stands is Chaplin Saamandhi , which was released a couple of months ago. And in the pipeline are films such as Mai and Parimala Thiraiarangam . “The movies should come out one by one between February and April,” Kannan strikes a positive note. He's also scoring the music for Nanda Periasamy's Azhagan Azhagi . Nanda is known to make films with substance and joining hands with him augurs well for Kannan.
Basically, Kannan is a guitarist. “Chennai doesn't offer much scope for the instrument,” he opines. As a student of Music College, he had switched to playing the violin. “But not for long. Guitar is my forte, as far as instruments go.”
For many musicians, the route to cinema is via jingles. Kannan has composed music for about 600 commercials so far. He is one of those rare budding composers, who is busy on the light music circuit too. “We are a slightly different team — we sing only the melodies of Ilaiyaraja on stage,” he smiles. The troupe is called Bharathi Entertainers.
“For a long time, I've been composing tunes so that I could use them in films some day, and when Amudhan gave me the opportunity I was thrilled.” Amudhan has begun his second film, called Irandaavadhu Padam , and he has plumped for Kannan's score again.
Meanwhile, the recently released audio of Chaplin Saamandhi includes a hum-worthy number, ‘Nee Vandhu Pona.' “My wife Thilaka has sung the song, which has been recorded as a solo and as a duet. She has been part of my light music shows for long,” he says. The male voice is Karthik's.
“I'm moving ahead steadily, taking small steps, working hard and waiting for my time.” His perseverance and optimism ought to pay dividends.
