Nuanced notes

Music director Sharreth scores again with Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty and Ivan Megharoopan

Sharreth

M usic director Sharreth never ceases to surprise. If his exceptional tunes for the Tamil-Telugu bilingual film 180 rocked the South Indian music charts, his latest nuanced compositions for T.K. Rajeevkumar's reel take on reality shows, Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty (TOP), are top of the charts in Mollywood. Sharreth talks to MetroPlus about scoring yet another hit, and gushes about his upcoming projects, especially the soon-to-be-released Ivan Megharoopan , the songs of which are already creating waves. Excerpts from an interview…

Topping charts

When Rajeevkumar narrated the script, the very subject – of a young woman living life under the arc lights– was very intriguing. There was this innocence to her, which I wanted to bring out in the songs. Hence,

Ponnodu Poovai… is a highly romantic song but I wanted a fresh, cool vibe to it. I think that K.S. Chitra has pulled off the song with her signature panache. Similarly,

Poovaname… which was sung by relative newcomers Alka Ajith and Anand Aravindakshan.

Kannaram Thumbi …, meanwhile, required deeper tonal quality and that's why Mano with his powerful voice came into the picture. I've used a lot of percussion to add dimensions to his voice.

Keeping it youthful

The film called for youthful numbers and that's what I have attempted to do. I try to be as different as possible and try not to repeat myself – or others, for that matter. I like to play around with tonal quality. For TOP I've used a lot of acoustic rhythm and percussion layered around with tonal variations to create something different.

New voices

There is a wealth of talent out there and there is a sore need for new voices in Malayalam playback singing. As a music director I am capitalising on that talent. I have no qualms about giving chances to newcomers – if I feel that there is a need for it. For instance, Jishna Nanu (a finalist from Gandharvasangeetham on Kairali TV) has done a great job in the duet Enthe Hridayathalam… in TOP, with Madhu Balakrishnan. It all depends on zeroing on the real talents, separating the grain from the chaff, so to speak.

Songs of the soil

There are five songs in the soundtrack of Ivan Megharoopan and all of them have a sort of a nostalgic feel to them. They are true songs of the soil, and quite unlike my earlier compositions. Das ettan (K.J.Yesudas) has sung a number – Anuragini , the lyrics of which are by ONV Kurup.

Actor Remya Nambeeshan – who also acted in the film – makes her debut as a singer. While on the set of a reality show in which I was a judge and she was the celebrity guest, I happened to overhear Remya hum a tune during lunch break. She has a great voice and I decided then and there to get her to sing for one of my compositions – though I didn't tell that to her then. So caught off guard was she when I called her with the offer, that she was speechless for a few minutes! Perhaps because she is an actor, she immediately understood the situation of the song and was able to emote accordingly.

Upcoming films

There are quite a few, actually. Reporter has an interesting duet with Chitra chechi and Shabeer (a contestant of Idea Star Singer – Season 5 on Asianet). Then there is Vasavadatta , written by Additional Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar. I've also got another film with Jayendra, director of 180;Kannuneerim Madhuram directed by Reghunath Paleri, and Ente , a bilingual Telugu-Malayalam by Rajesh Touchriver…