Music director Sanjeev Thomas has finally broken the jinx. The singer-composer’s tunes in the Vineeth Sreenivasan-starrer Manoharam has struck a chord with listeners, even as the lilting number ‘Kinavo’, which Sanjeev himself crooned along with Shweta Mohan, is trending. “I had to fight bad luck several times. There have been quite a few movies (in several languages) I did as music director that failed to see the light of the day,” says Sanjeev over phone from Kochi.
Manoharam is Sanjeev’s second Mollywood film as composer — he made his début with Vilakkumaram in 2017, which, however, largely went unnoticed. As a playback singer, he got noticed for the catchy ‘Nenjinullil’ in Diamond Necklace and ‘Pathiye pathiye’ in Grandmaster much earlier.
- Growing up in Kuwait, Sanjeev’s early inspiration was the English-Australian pop band Bee Gees. “Then, my college years were steeped in ’60s and ’70s rock n roll before AR Rahman became a big inspiration. It’s only then that I really started following some of top Carnatic and Hindustani artistes,” he says.
Manoharam happened after Sanjeev moved from Bengaluru, where he runs his music school and studio, Rainbow Bridge, to Chennai earlier this year. “I was on a break as I wanted to sit back and gain a larger perspective on the (music) industry. Then one day, I sent Vineeth a message, informing him that I was available for work. We’ve known each other from Thattathin Marayathu days when I played the guitar for Shaan (Rahman) in the film. Vineeth was at the time in discussion with (director) Anvar (Sadik) who was looking for a composer for Manoharam ,” says the 39-year-old, who goes by the artist name Sanjeev T.
Sanjeev, fittingly, calls the Manoharam experience “beautiful”, saying the director gave him “full creative freedom” that helped him express himself. Apart from ‘Kinavo’, he also rendered the peppy title track, ‘Munnotitha’. While he entrusted his “friend” Vineeth with belting out ‘Thaaro’, Sanjeev roped in silky-voiced Sid Sriram for ‘Akale’.
“When I sent the options for ‘Munnotitha’ with my voice, both Anvar and Vineeth said they wanted me to sing the original as well. With ‘Kinavo’, though we tried a few other voices, we eventually decided that I would give it a go. Also, I felt it would add a dash of freshness as my voice is not so popular in Mollywood yet!” he says. However, the composer insists that he usually prefers not to sing his own songs. “Frankly speaking, I’m not really happy with my voice (laughs). But I often end up singing, thanks to encouragement from others,” he adds.
A native of Kottayam, Sanjeev grew up in Kuwait and his early exposure was to Western music. “I showed an early interest in the guitar. But my music diversified once I moved to Chennai during college when I regularly participated in competitions. After studies, I decided to delve into music full time,” he recalls. The big break came in 2005 when a friend of his working with AR Rahman introduced Sanjeev to the music legend who was looking for a guitarist for his ‘Vote for Taj’ composition, a.k.a the Taj Anthem that commemorated the monument’s global status. The association helped Sanjeev grow for the next 10 years when he could “watch and learn” from the maestro.
- ‘Stayin’ alive’ - Bee Jees
- ‘Purple haze’ - Jimi Hendrix
- ‘Aromale’ – AR Rahman
- ‘What about me’ - Snarky Puppy
- ‘Nee madhu pakaroo’ – K J Yesudas
“Soon, I started joining ARR on his recordings and shows. My first theatre release as lead guitarist with him was Azhagiya Thamizh Magan ,” he says. Sanjeev later lent his voice for ‘Jessie is driving me crazy’ in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya that marked his début as a vocalist.
His last project with ARR was the Vikram-starrer I after which Sanjeev moved to Mumbai for a brief while “to do new things”. In between, he also worked on ad films, while he has collaborated with music directors such as Pritam, Anu Malik and Vishal-Shekhar duo in Bollywood. Sanjeev, who founded his music band Rainbow Bridge that once featured the likes of Benny Dayal and Keba Jeremiah, also has three albums under his belt – Freefall , Epic Shit and St , the last one an instrumental fusion.
For now, he’s enjoying the break.
