Best friends forever

Childhood friends and now successful professionals in their respective fields, Vishnu Vardhan and Yuvan Shankar Raja talk about their journey in the film industry to nikhil raghavan

Vishnu Vardhan (left) and Yuvan Shankar Raja. Photo: Special Arrangement

Vishnu Vardhan and Yuvan Shankar Raja, best friends from school, have transcended many things that life has thrown their way. “In 1996, I teamed up with Santosh Sivan for two purposes — to learn cinematography and to understand direction. The catch was I would act in his Terrorist, ” says Vishnu Vardhan.

Around the same time, Yuvan, following his dad’s footsteps, had starting composing music. His first break came in 1997 with Aravindhan . While Yuvan kick-started his journey by belting out hit after hit, Vishnu had to wait until 2003 to catch up with him. That’s when he got his first break as a director with Kurumbu .

“Our friendship was built on our common interest in cinema. Our respective mediums are highly creative and demanding areas of filmmaking. We shared a terrific wavelength,” says Yuvan, who has collaborated with Vishnu for all the eight movies he has made till date, including his latest,

Yatchan, due for release this month.

Vishnu says, “I would involve Yuvan right from the conceptualisation stage of my film. As I progress with my script, I discuss every aspect with him, and interestingly, his music evolves alongside too. There are times when his music has even changed the way I had originally conceived a sequence. In the case of

Yatchan , Yuvan started giving inputs even before I had completed the script. Such is his grasping power and the influence that it has on my movie. He is a great visualiser,” says Vishnu.

“Apart from Vishnu, I am also comfortable with directors such as Venkat Prabhu, Ameer and Lingusamy,” says Yuvan. “Venkat, being my cousin, shares a good equation with me. But his style is more direct when it comes to scripts, and is quite different from Vishnu’s approach.”

Vishnu stresses on the importance of a composer being on the same page as a director. “A good vibe with the music director helps both of us understand our respective needs. Sometimes, the script will dictate the music and vice versa. Our combination since

Kurumbu has evolved to such an extent, that in

Yatchan, the songs elevate every scene,” he says.

Yuvan has been known for his eagerness to experiment with the latest styles and influences from across the world and adapt them suitably for Tamil films. Yuvan says, “I keep the soul of the song intact and play around only with the style. For instance, ‘Konjalaai…’ starts as a beautiful melody and blends into dubstep. In ‘Innum Enna…’ I have given a retro style of the 60s and 70s, making it a vintage ballad. ‘Parapara…’ has a contemporary folk feel,” points out Yuvan.

About the film, Vishnu says, “It is about two guys from different parts of Tamil Nadu, who meet in Chennai. Yuvan’s concept was to provide the musical flavour and style of each of those regions, when the heroes are introduced. As the location moves to Chennai, the background score evolves into something more contemporary.”

We hear of writers and directors having creative blocks. What about a composer? “Oh sure, I have. I think this happens to most creative people. For me, when it happens while I am composing for a particular film, I stop work on that project and switch over to another film of a different genre. That method has always worked for me, and helped get me out of this predicament,” he says.

Doesn’t it result in an overlap of the ideas needed for both films? “No. It is like driving a BMW in different drive modes,” he says.

Vishnu says, “He is always in an overdrive mode when I discuss music with him. It is difficult to pin him down to one place. Such is his enthusiasm which, for me, has reflected in every project that I have worked with, including Yatchan .”