“A random, crazy idea has been successfully executed,” says composer M. Ghibran, who is back in Chennai after driving from Chennai to Singapore, across six countries by road. In each country, he released one song from his album for Chennai 2 Singapore . He talks to Chitradeepa Anantharam about the journey, the experiences gained and the lessons learnt.
How did you land upon this audio drive idea?
I always Google the title of my films. When I typed Chennai to Singapore , I got not only flight details, but a Google map that displayed the road route. This gave me the idea for an audio drive. Why not release the audio along this route, on an audio drive? But when I discussed this idea with my friend and the director of the film, Abbas Akbar, we dismissed it as a stupid thought.
What made you take up the audio drive finally?
Audio-release functions were becoming boring and monotonous. Kamal Haasan broke the tradition by releasing Uttama Villain ’s audio on an app. He inspired me to think out of the box. I thought an audio drive would garner attention. We left on August 12 (coincidentally, my birthday) and returned on September 12. My team comprised of Abbas Akbar (director), Karthick Nallamuthu (cinematographer), Shiv Keshav (media manager in charge of social-media updates about the trip) and my assistant Aravind, who drove almost 80 per cent of the distance.
What was the route and how did you prepare yourself?
We left Chennai and drove to Vijayawada, Kolkata, Guwahati, Assam, Nagaland and then to Manipur. From there, we proceeded to Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and finally, Singapore. Fans on social media gave us tips and suggestions. I was also working on other projects during the drive, so in the car I had a sort of a mini studio, with battery back-up. We were prepared for various things, but not for earthquakes, landslides and last-minute document cancellation.
Any unforgettable experiences?
When you look at our videos, one will get the impression that it was just a fun-filled road trip. But, in reality, we faced a lot of legal issues. When we stopped for tea upon reaching Manipur, an earthquake struck. It was followed by another. We were stranded for 10 days without communication. Our families panicked, and especially Karthick’s wife, who was in the eighth month of her pregnancy. When the third tremor of a magnitude of 7.4 occurred, we almost decided to return to Chennai. But the support and encouragement that poured in on social media made us proceed. Those were emotional moments for me and my team.
You also mentioned a landslide…
When we were about to enter Myanmar, a major landslide delayed our entry into the country. And to top it, our documents were declared invalid, as the country had recently changed its policy. So we had to reapply. The next major hurdle was in Thailand, where the government had imposed a new rule for travellers entering by road. We were expected to get an assurance letter from the local Land Transport Corporation. The border officials seized our vehicle but let the team enter the country. We hired a car and went to Bangkok to meet the officials, who sought an assurance letter from the Indian embassy. But we got zero help from them. Finally, the Singapore embassy issued the assurance letter, and we crossed Thailand.
How did it feel when you reached Singapore to a rousing reception?
It was a mixed feeling, a sense of achievement. We all are still in the hangover of the trip. It’s a great feeling.
Ghibran’s drive diary
August 12: Chennai.
Song:Vaadi vaadi.
Theme: A formula dream song in the Western genre. A relaxed, feel good song.
August 19: Bhutan
Song: Poda Poda.
Theme: Life throws a lot of challenges, and we look at life and say, Poda. This is a rap number, a tongue twister, rendered beautifully by RJ Balaji. This is his first full-length song..
September 2: Myanmar
Song: Pogathe.
Theme: A sad number.
September 7: Thailand
Song: Texas Pogiren.
Theme: A wacky number. The idea is to make people to react in different ways.
September 10: Malaysia:
Song: Gun Inbam.
Theme: While ‘Poda poda’ challenges life, here life challenges us. The lyrics talk about an unusual way of looking at things
September 11: Singapore:
Song: Ro Ro Roshini.
Theme: The tune makes it sound like a love song, but actually it celebrates death. This is the director’s favourite and he wanted to release this in his hometown, Singapore.
Bonus song: To celebrate the success of the audio drive, we launched the female version of ‘Pogadhe’ in Singapore.
