MUSIC DIRECTOR G V PRAKASH KUMAR INTERVIEW

The passion to produce movies has always been there. But I was waiting for the right time. Now that I’m all settled, I think this is a good time to start.

Movies have always been a passion for me. I am a lover of world movies. I find most of the current films repetitive and I wanted to make a film that has new content. Being a fan of Anurag Kashyap and Farhan Akthar, I get attracted to things that are unusual and different. I feel there are a lot of subjects that haven’t been touched upon, in different genres.

Madha Yanai Kootam (MYK) deals with a slightly different subject than what you would usually see. So I got interested in the film.

MYK is about Seimurai, a practice which is unique for Madurai and surrounding areas. This is similar to ‘moi’ or the gift we normally give during happy occasions. But, Seimurai will find its place in sad occasions like death. This practice has not been properly recorded in Tamil cinema till now.

Also, rather than portraying death as a sad occasion, the film deals about celebrating death.

I went through 12 scripts before locking Madha Yaanai Koottam. The difference is that, the first 12 scripts came to me, but Madha Yaanai Koottam, I went in search of it. Vikram Sugumaran was looking for a producer for a long time and a cinematographer friend of mine referred him to me. I knew Vikram already and I called him. I loved the script and we began our journey together from there.

The film went on floors in February and wrapped up the shoot by July. People down south don’t give much time for post-production. But, I wanted to give the time the project truly deserved.

I am involved in selecting technicians and cast members. Not to dictate terms as such because it is a team work. But I did suggest cameraman Rahul Dharuman and Oviya. I wanted at least one known face in the movie for commercial purposes. Obviously director Vikram and Kathir (actor) are my selections. I am happy to state that both of them have two projects each in the pipeline after this.

Vikram Sugumaran has been booked by JSK Film Corporation for another project and one more top producer has approached him. Rahul Dharuman has signed a project with Seenu Ramasamy.

I knew him for a long time since he was with Balu Mahendra and his days as dialogue writer – he wrote dialogues for Aadukalam and Polladhavan. I am happy to produce his film.

I’m not interested in the regular commercial movies. I want to do path breaking films. I am looking to bring more promising newcomers. I’m listening to the scripts of Aadik and Arun Raja. Then there’s this directors duo, Shankar and Guna, former assistants of director Vijay. They have a good script too. I’ll make the official announcements soon.

It’s my dream to produce Ajith in a movie. I want to make a contemporary, new-gen film with him in the lead. I would like to make a film that is completely different from what he has ever done. I hope it happens very soon.

AR Murugadoss was the first one to offer me a project to act. I wasn’t very sure about it and I told him I’m not good at acting. But he was very particular about casting me as the lead. But the project didn’t happen for different reasons. The news of me taking up acting came out and people started asking me about it.

Later director Mani Nagaraj insisted that I listened to his script, Pencil. I did and I liked it but still was very reluctant. But I knew he had the talent and I eventually agreed to the movie.

However, I have decided that I will only do very selective movies as an actor. I’m not in a race. Be it production or acting, I will only take up a project if I am passionate about the script. Music and production are my two priorities. I want to make good middle ground films that make money for the producers and make the audience happy.

I have a very strong team of people to help me out with administration in music and production. More than that, they are all my friends from my school days. I’m in the process of setting up my production team. I want the company to be as strong as my music team.

Most of them are my friends from school. Srihari, who does Rhythm arrangements, for me, Joson who is a technical wizard – all of them are my friends. Saindhavi was also from my school. A friend of mine Naveen Iyer (aka Arrora) has also become a music director now with Kalyana Samayal Sadham. I introduced Naveen as a flautist in Veyil and he went on to play for Slumdog Millionaire.

I am very proud of all of them.

Yes, a lot of them. I am fascinated with Santhosh Narayanan and his work. His Soodhu Kavvum was fantastic. He is awesome; he breaks all existing patterns and produces new-gen music.

I’m my biggest critic… I never appreciate my own work. I’ve also tuned my guys like that and we always try to find fault with every song of mine.  I learnt this from Vetri Maaran. He keeps bashing his own films while editing them. And I believe that’s how we filter the bad elements from our products. Take Madha Yaanai Koottam’s trailer for example. What people appreciate today is a product that has gone through this process of elimination. We worked for that trailer for days.

Since I am so used to Rahman’s style of work, I used to do a lot of night shifts. But now I have stabilized and adopted my own routine. I love my work so I can do it anytime, regardless of the timing.

Neither me nor Saindhavi sang for my first 12 films. Director Vijay requested her to sing a song in Madrasapattinam. Following which we sang a lot of songs together and all of them were hits. People ask me about the secret of our success. The answer for that is we all do our job sincerely.

She is the best thing to have happened in my life. She is very patient, completely opposite to what I am. Yet, we complement each other.

When I said I’m going to act, everyone’s reaction was no.

When I wanted to produce, my dad said no. When I wanted to become a composer, he asked me to work as an assistant for a couple more years. I wanted to be the youngest composer. I don’t think anyone has composed for a film at the age of 18.

How will anyone know if I’m ready for or capable of something until they see me do it. They have always been and will be fine after I prove it to them.

Similarly, when I said I’m going to act, Saindhavi wasn’t for it. But eventually she understood. Her fears were about me dancing with and romancing other actresses. But there are going to be hundreds of techies watching us… All I’ll be concerned about is if I’m getting it right or not.

It’s a school subject and there’s no romance. It’ll be a thriller with a different edit pattern. It’ll be an eye-opener in Tamil cinema. After this movie, Mani will be one of the most sought after directors in the industry.

Bala and Anurag Kashyap have been very particular about their demands. The most demanding project I worked was Aayirathil Oruvan because it involved a lot of work. I wanted to do justice to the period effect of the film and it required a lot of research.

They both are mass heroes and to match that image or elevate it on screen is the biggest challenge. I believe, the music that comes from our subconscious mind, the moment  we look at them on the big screen will be the right kind of music.

I’ve been blessed, for I had the opportunity to work with Rajini sir, Ajith and Vijay. I was booked for Ajith’s film, the next day the music of Veyil released.

I respect his opinion and I am sure he has his own perspective about it.

Anurag Kashyap is a path breaker, just like Bala sir. I was shocked by his Dev D. I think cinema looks different through his eyes. I had a burning urge to work with him and it happened with Gangs of Wasseypur, which I think is one of the greatest movies of all time.

He loves Tamil cinema. Aadukalam is one of his favorites and he loved my work in Aayirathil Oruvan.

It’s not that bad… After all its a good thing, right! It’s a public welfare awareness campaign and I support it. What I don’t support are the comments thrown at poor Mukesh. That man is dead and it is not decent of us to make fun of someone who’s dead. I can never take such kind of comedies.

I experimented a lot with Raja Rani. How Wake Up Sid was to Hindi films, Raja Rani is to Tamil. That Hey Baby song is an example of Raja Rani’s experimental music. It has the genres of Acapella and Gana in the same song. It is a new-gen film and I loved working on it. I can say, Raja Rani is a transition in my musical career and it is also the beginning of a new kind of music.

Ugly, Nimirndu Nil, Irumbu Kudhirai and Eeti are few of the projects. Pencil and Irumbu Kuthirai will again be new-gen albums. I’m also waiting to start Bala sir’s projects. The film’s about Karagattam and the music, I assure you, will be a folk treat. On the other hand, Ugly is full of dubstep. You wouldn’t have expected anything like that from me.

Director Vijay, Nirav Shah and myself are working on Saivam without taking a penny. We are doing this for Vijay. It’s for the love and faith we have in the director. He gave me a chance to work with Ajith in my second film. Since then we share a great rapport. Saivam is the sign of our friendship.

Other than that, the movie has a great subject and it introduces a bunch of extremely talented kids. Unnikrishnan’s daughter has sung a full length song in this film and she might even win a National Award for it.

Nalan Kumarasamy, hands down. I watched Soodhu Kavvum twice. I also loved Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom.

My favorite among the current gen actors is Vijay Sethupathy. Though the offbeat genre fits well on him, he should not get stuck and get stereotyped and try different things. Vikram and Kamal are my all time favorites – the two actors who do not have any boundaries or limitations.

I wish Pencil turns out to be the biggest blockbuster of 2014. Other than that I want to balance between my production and acting. I also want to introduce as many promising youngsters as possible. I have the guts to work with a completely fresh team.

I pray to god that all my new projects turn out to be huge success!