Naresh Iyer has been away from Telugu cinema circuit for a while now. His releases this year have been from films that didn't quite hit the button like Superstar Kidnap and another for Chirunavvula Chirujallu too (dubbed from Endrendrum Punnagai ). Clearing the air though, he says, he has more to offer from his kitty this year. In reply to whether his break was a planned one, “Not quite. I am open to work with any composer who’s ready with a good song,” he says, being otherwise regular in Tamil with releases like Orange Mittai, Madurai Maavendhargal and Masala Padam .
It is noticeable that Naresh, in his Telugu stint, has had an active association more with the likes of Mickey J Meyer, Harris Jayraj and A R Rahman than the others. “These are not times where I can afford to choose a composer. The names mentioned here are ones who wished to get back to me on a regular basis. There has been no bias from my side though,” clarifies the voice that accompanied Shreya Ghoshal in the popular number ‘Preminche Premava’ from Nuvvu Nenu Prema .
He’s surprised to know that his number for Karthikeya , ‘Inthalo Enneni Vinthalo’ was quite a success last year. Being in Mumbai, he’s not aware of the reach, his numbers have down here. “Sekhar Chandra, the composer of the song is quite an open-minded composer and I’d liked the song I did for him in a lesser known film, 3G Love too,” he adds.
Shifting between Mumbai and Chennai considerably and singing in four languages simultaneously including Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam, he acknowledges it’s because of the homework he has been doing that’s enabled him to bring in an individual perspective to his tracks. “This makes things easier for the composer too if the singer puts in the effort and follows guidelines from experts,” he states about language ideally not being a barrier for singers for him.
Being a product of a reality show himself, does he feel avenues such as Coke Studio and online platforms are rather bringing about such an overflow of talent at once, which may cripple the existence of current singers?
He doesn’t feel so, as he chips in, “This is a situation I believe, which we must rather celebrate. Even if it’s me singing only one number per album, as long as I have the individuality, my identity shouldn’t be an issue. In fact, that’s better than being overused. My voice will add to the variety then.”
The man with a lot of air in his voice was in the city to perform at an awards event recently. He feels a live performance is something more than the one at studio as it translates into an immediate exchange of happiness, which he says is far beyond music, appreciation. “As I record a song in a studio, the experience is rather personal and from a film’s perspective. However, it’s a concert that you bring your persona into play and the essence is extracted beautifully,” he articulately puts.
Having been a part of a band Dhwani in the past, he wants the country to embrace non-film music as much as movies too. “The scene of the bands here has been quite lethargic. It’s a community acceptance of the groups that we must facilitate,”
Given his contemporaries like G.V Prakash or Karthik are into avenues beyond singing, is there something beyond the voice that you can expect from Naresh? “As of now, I’m content on exploring things in better detail as a singer. But, yes, why not take a step ahead in the future?” he leaves you in suspense.
