For brothers K.B. Pavan and K.B. Praveen, who have recently made their debut as lyricist and music director respectively for Mumtaz , a film slated for release soon, getting a break in the Kannada film industry was a distant dream. In fact, their story defies conventional beliefs about what it takes to make it big in the field of music.
“I’m a chemistry lecturer and Praveen is currently finishing his B.Com. The director of Mumtaz , Raghava Murali, is a friend of my roommate’s and that is how we approached him. Murali had planned to get each song composed by a different composer. When he met us, he was naturally worried about letting a college student like Praveen compose for his film. However, once he heard both Praveen and my work, he signed us for the entire album,” explains Pavan.
Praveen could very well be the youngest music director the Kannada film industry has had. What is intriguing though is that Praveen is not formally trained in music. He has also not apprenticed under any music director. “Since school, I was always interested in music. I briefly learnt how to play the guitar but that's about it. A lot of my learning and training comes from listening to a lot of music. There is training on one hand and instinct on the other. My music is more instinctive,” describes Praveen. The fact that he listens to and reads about the work of other composers is evident when he narrates anecdotes about Shankar Ehsaan Loy or describes themix of modernity and tradition in the music of the recently released RangiTaranga .
So, how did they go about composing and writing lyrics for Mumtaz ? “The director told us the story of the film and acquainted us with the different situations within the story where he would like a song to be inserted. What worked for Praveen and I was the fact that we were both in the same house. So, either he would come up with a tune and I would pen lyrics for that tune or I would first come up with the lyrics and he would string those words into a tune,” says Pavan. This would be followed by a rough track of the song, sometimes with Pavan singing it, which would be played in front of the director for approval, they say. Going by the duo's description of the entire process, composing music does seem scarily effortless.
Along with instinct, what also aids Praveen in his work is the fact that music making today is largely dependent on software rather than live instruments and rehearsals. The texture of songs in Mumtaz too makes that clear.
Like most films today, Mumtaz too seems to have the mandatory dance number and the now incumbent ‘drinking song’. Though debutants, both siblings, in fact, seem quite conversant with not just film music but the workings of the industry itself. “It has become a norm today to have a dance number, what is called a female pathos song and a mass number. So, as directors, we have to be ready to compose in these genres,” explains Pavan. And, what is their take on this kind of music? “If one kind of song becomes a hit, there is a tendency to remake or recreate that in every film. This is why a film like RangiTaranga stands out. It did not cave to popular stereotypes and stuck to music that would suit the film, ” they add.
“Even when it comes to lyrics, there is no meaning in mindlessly using English lyrics for the sake of it. But yes, when it makes sense in the story, it should be used. Directors are burdened with the task of making their music appeal to both the old and the younger generation,” argues Pavan. Having gained an entry into a rather competitive industry, both Pavan and Praveen acknowledge that it will be a tough ride but one that they are definitely willing to try.
