New areas of musical expressions
K. PRADEEP
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A melodious semi-classical number in `Chess' marks the Silver Jubilee of music composers Berny and Ignatius.
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Photo: MAHESH HARILAL
ON THE SAME PITCH: Berny and Ignatius have endured the changing trends in tinsel town.
Berny and Ignatius have made their new move. And it is timed to perfection. The music director duo has come out with a superb semi-classical song featuring K.J. Jesudas and K.S. Chitra, in the film `Chess,' to mark the Silver Jubilee of their career. A forgettable debut, recognition for the super-duper hits in the film `Thenmavin Kombathu,' charges of plagiarism... Berny and Ignatius have seen them all. They have persevered and proved to be exponents of serious crossover encounters with brilliant orchestration, thus chartering new areas of musical expressions.
"A career in films music was never there in our minds when we started in 1981. We began with a Christian devotional LP with a group of amateur singers and Rex Issac coordinating the orchestra. The recording those days were done in makeshift `studios.' Then came the cassette boom with many companies taking a plunge into the business. We were then permanent music directors for Ranjini Cassettes.
"We must have made every kind of music, ranging from devotionals and semi-classical to patriotic songs. Looking back at those times, we feel it was the perfect training ground. In fact, we got our first opportunity to work in a film only because of these albums. Though our first film, `Kazchekkappuram,' did not do well, Priyadarshan's `Thenmavin Kombathu,' provided us with the right launch pad," remembers Ignatius, the elder of the brothers.
Right through their career, Berny and Ignatius have firmly believed that as music directors their responsibility was towards the producer and director.
Part of a big scheme
"Film music is always dependent on the scenes. Our job is to contribute to the success of the film, to each of these scenes. This is what we aim to do every time we are offered a film. Only with successful films can there be songs, singers and music directors. We are only part of the big design," chips in Berny.
Orchestration has been Berny-Ignatius' forte. Their foot-tapping tunes, with the focus on stylised folk, which gives it a dash of colour, have often been their success formulae. But they have also come up with some interesting semi-classical songs cleverly blended with strains of Western symphony, like M.G. Sreekumar's `Thamarapoovil vaazhum... ' (`Chandralekha'). Explains Berny: "But in `Chess' it is different. There are two songs, one, a title song, sung by George Peter that is racy, peppy with English words thrown in, and the other by Dasettan [K.J. Jesudas] and Chitra. We feel that the second one that begins `Chandam Kalindinaadam Gopisangeetham ... .' is one of the best we have composed so far.
"We chose the rare 46th melakartha raga, Shadvida Margini with the `panchamam' taken off. This then, as Dasettan told us, is Bahumarini or Karaladhari. The song goes through elaborate niravals and swaraprasthara.
"These days a film usually has only one or two songs and the producer insists that one of them must be outstanding. It is this song that is used in music channels and other promotional media to market the film. And we feel that it has come out very well." After Job-George and Jaya-Vijaya, Berny-Ignatius has been the most successful team in Malayalam.
Advantages of a team
"Working as a team has its advantages provided there is perfect understanding between the two. Earlier, we used to do most of our composing at home. Of late, being wedged between a noisy workshop and a crowded road, we are forced to move to some relatively quiet place.
"Working together helps ease tension. After the composing is done, before another person listens to it, we judge and pass a verdict. Sometimes we compose a lot of tunes for a song depending on the scene, characters and mood. The final decision is taken after a final discussion with the director," says Ignatius.
Berny-Ignatius has just completed composing six songs for an Arab film.
"The tuning, orchestration and feeding is over. Now we are waiting for the singers and the final recording. By the grace of God we have been able to create music that fits the changing times and themes. These Arabi pop songs should be a trendsetter of sorts and we hope this would help in furthering our career," says Berny.
Success has not come on a platter for the duo. They and Malayalam music are going through a difficult and challenging period.
"There is no professional status for musicians today. Piracy has ruined the audio industry and virtually put the career of many talented musicians on hold. There was a time when there were around 500 violinists to choose from for orchestration. Today most of them have quit for other jobs.
"Take the case of young singers. We were able to introduce so many singers like Chitra Iyer, Madhu Balakrishnan, Afzal, Sayonara. For `Chess,' the tracks were sung by Ganesh Sundaram and Gayatri Varma, who have done it well. But with songs no longer being a commercial attraction in films, filmmakers have cut down the number of songs, thereby reducing the opportunity to bring in new voices. If drastic action is not initiated against piracy, Malayalam music is sure to suffer," the duo says.
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