Look, if you go to a classical concert, you will find that the masters still sing the standard ragas, even though they may have mastered the rarer ragas as well, why is that? Because the human ear has a very low attention span -- if something is not immediately familiar, if it doesn't strike a familiar chord, then the attention wanders. That is why it is important to use little books, points of familiarity whether it is a rhythm structure or a raga, to hook the listener. When you've got him hooked, you can introduce something new into the song, as it progress -- but you first have to make sure he listens.
See, don't they also say my music is the kind that grows on you? Why is that? Because it is not the same -- even when it is similar, there is always something new. The listener initially rebels at the newness, then as he listens again and again, it grows on him.
You have your own favorite directors, don't you? People for whom you really make an effort, produce good work...
I always make an effort. Each song is like a baby -- you don't put more love and care into making and bringing up one baby than another do you? It is like that with me. Actually, it is not that I have favourites among director, but because sometimes, there is a synergy between composer and director, and sometimes it is lacking.
You mean certain directors have this special something that make you compose better?
Yes, in the sense that some directors know what they want. For instance, take Mani Ratnam -- he is always pushing me away from the familiar and into new things, into experimenting. In a way, working with him can be frightening because he pushes you out of your comfort zone, but that also mans you end up doing high quality work.
Similarly, take Shankar -- he wants commercially viable tunes, but he won't let you stay with the familiar, he wants experimentation, so you keep coming up with different sounds for him, while staying in the commercial format -- like say Chikku bukku raiyile in Gentleman, or Mukkaala muqabala in Kaadhalan, or Telephone manipol in Indian, or Shakalaka baby in Mudhalvan...
There is also the matter of trust, of faith in the director. See, if you compose a brilliant love song, a soft, melodious number, and the director places it in the movie just immediately before the interval or immediately after, he kills the song. The audience goes off for a smoke; people move around the song is lost.
You talk of being bored and wanting to try new things. Why haven't you tried the classical formats, especially since you've studied it?
Actually, I have done classical-type songs occasionally. There was also Sangamam, a kind of classical-folk fusion. Yes, I haven't done pure classical -- but how can I? Who will make that kind of movie anyway? I long time ago, they made Shankar-abhranam. And that became the yardstick, the classic. You can't make another movie of that kind, because it will be compared, always -- unfavourably, with the original. But then, there is lots of scope for experimenting in the matrix I am working in -- like I said, doing this project with Andrew (Lloyd Weber) has taught me a lot, now I can try things out in my future compositions, play around, experiment.
You won't be 'bored' any more...
Oh, I'll always be bored. (Laughs) That is my trouble. I am easily bored. But hopefully, by the time I get bored dong one thing. I'll probably find something else to get interested in...
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