Scoring on home ground
P. K. AJITH KUMAR
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Srinivas returns to Malayalam film music with a melodious number in `Rathri Mazha.'
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It feels good when your compositions become popular.Srinivas
Photo: M. Moorthy
FAMILIAR FACE: Srinivas judges a music show on Kairali TV.
`Bansuri sruthi pole... ,' a melodious number composed by Ramesh Narayan for Lenin Rajendran's `Rathri Mazha,' marks Srinivas' return to Malayalam film music. In spite of singing more than 500 songs in Tamil and a few hits in Hindi too, he has not sung that many songs in Malayalam. The few that he sang such as `Ethrayo janmamai...' (`Summer in Bethlehem'), `Manju pole... ' (`Dosth') and `Varmazhaville... ' (`Mizhi Randilum') were all hits.
"I am singing in Malayalam after quite a while but I am optimistic about the `Rathri Mazha' song," says Srinivas, who was in Kozhikode for a stage show. The Chennai-based singer is busy these days as a composer of jingles. "It is something that I enjoy; it feels good when your compositions become popular. Some of my jingles are still aired. I have also composed for films in Tamil and Malayalam. Unfortunately T.K. Rajeev Kumar's `Sita Kalayanam,' for which I have composed some songs, has been delayed."
Srinivas is now a familiar face on television as one of the judges of `Gandharva Sandhya' on Kairali TV.
"I enjoy it mainly because people from all sections of society get an opportunity to showcase their talent in this show. Now that we have reached the quarterfinal stage, we have some excellent singers. Judging the preliminary rounds was tough. I think the format of this programme is more democratic."
Music, he believes, is for the ears. "If you feel like dancing, and are good at it, you can dance. But it is not fair to be forced to dance if you have to sing," says the singer who was a much sought after singer during his student days.
It was his aunt Padma Narayanan who spotted the talent in him.
Down memory lane
"She used to teach music and encouraged me to participate in classical music competitions in school and college. We, students of different colleges in Thiruvananthapuram city, had an orchestra called `Bluebirds.' G. Venugopal and I were the main singers. K.S. Chitra also used to sing for us. It was when Venu and Chitra started singing in cinema that it occurred to me that maybe I should also try my luck as a playback singer."
Srinivas made his debut in 1994 with the song `Sorgam enbathu namakku... ' in `Nammavar.' But his big break came three years later with the A.R. Rahman number `Oo la la la... ' in `Minsara Kanavu.' "I was working in Coimbatore when I heard the songs of `Roja.' I knew this was one composer who would encourage fresh talent, so I met him, he tested my voice and asked me to move to Chennai and made me sing track and chorus for two years before giving me that big break," he recalls.
"I have been given good songs in Tamil by many music directors like Rahman and Vidyasagar, who was also the one who gave me my biggest hits in Malayalam," says Srinivas.
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