“I’ve enjoyed my stint as an independent musician with 14 albums, but I would get choosy when it comes to film music. If noted Kannada filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli wants me to score music for his film, I will leave everything else to get associated with him!” says Ricky Kej, who won a Grammy for Best New Age Album for Winds of Samsara , his collaboration with African flautist Wouter Kellerman.
Ricky, who is back in Bengaluru, clarifies that it was by no accident that he scored Ramesh Arvind’s film Accident . He hardly bargained for “the needed space”, but was, in fact, offered an independent platter by Ramesh.
The 33-year-old may be all the rage right now, but who is Ricky Kej? Born in North Carolina to doctor Gyan H. Kej from Rajasthan and mother Pammi from Amritsar, the family returned to India when Ricky was eight. “Perhaps my father settled for Bengaluru as we were away from all our relatives,” quips Ricky. “But I am a total Bengalurian. I have travelled the length and breadth of Karnataka and am the son-in-law of the former Director of Kannada and Culture Y.K. Muddukrishna.”
If Girish Kasaravalli wants me to score music for his film, I will leave everything else to get associated with him
Ricky Kej
