‘I am aware that my time is running out, and there’s so much to do.’
Key Points
- M M Keeravani, who turned 65 on July 4, has launched a YouTube channel to promote new talent with experimental music videos and short films.
- He shares a strong rapport with his cousin, Director S S Rajamouli, with whom he can communicate musical requirements through ‘sign language’.
- Keeravani credits Ram Gopal Varma’s film Kshanam Kshanam for giving him recognition and kickstarting his independent career.
Oscar-winning Composer M M Keeravani celebrated his 65th birthday on July 4, and took the moment to look back at his journey.
“I know expectations are very high (for S S Rajamouli’s Varanasi). I don’t want people to expect another RRR. This is another universe… Doing the same thing just because it worked is creative inertia. And that’s like death to me,” Keeravani tells Subhash K Jha.
‘We have to seek new voices in the wilderness’
You recently turned 65. How do you intend to rejuvenate your creative forces?
I have started my own YouTube channel to promote new talent with experimental music videos and short films.
I am convinced that the future belongs to young talent. We cannot keep clinging to the past, glorious as it was. We have to seek new voices in the wilderness.
What does one more year of your life mean to you?
It means creeping closer to the closure. I am aware that my time is running out, and there’s so much to do.
‘You can’t ever be repetitive’
Miles and miles to go before you sleep?
I don’t know about that. But I believe every day, every opportunity that comes my way to express myself is godsent. Never take anything for granted.
S S Rajamouli’s Varanasi is coming up, after RRR.
I know expectations are very high. I don’t want people to expect another RRR. This is another universe. Besides, you can’t ever be repetitive.
Doing the same thing just because it worked is creative inertia. And that’s like death to me.
‘I am nowhere near Shankar-Jaikishan or S D Burman’
What is the secret formula for your remarkable rapport with Rajamouli?
Do you know we are cousins? He is the only son of my father’s youngest brother Vijayendra Prasad (who wrote the Baahubali movies).
Rajamouli and I have worked together in several films. By now, we can communicate about his musical requirements by sign language.
Like Raj Kapoor and Shankar-Jaikishan?
That’s putting too much pressure on me. I am nowhere near Shankar-Jaikishan or S D Burman.
Which are the scores in Hindi you are really proud of?
My own favourite movie soundtracks are Jism, Sur, Zakhm, Paheli and Special Chabbis for the songs, and the Baahubali series, RRR and Varanasi for the background music.
But I’d rather speak about others than myself. My favourite composers and singers keep changing from time to time.
‘My career could have finished if it wasn’t for Ram Gopal Varma’
Tell us about your beginnings.
I started as an assistant to the great K Chakravarthy sir. I’ve been composing for almost 40 years.
My first independent film soundtrack was never released. My career could have finished then and there, if it wasn’t for Ram Gopal Varma.
How did RGV come into the picture?
It was Ram Gopal Varma’s Kshana Kshanam which got me recognition.
‘We had foreigners dancing to my Naatu Naatu without understanding a word’
Who are the musicians who have impressed and inspired you?
My all time favourite singers are Frank Sinatra, Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. One by one, all the greats are gone.
You have worked in Hindi. Was language a problem?
I may not be fluent in Hindi, but I understand the language well enough. The language of music is universal.
We had foreigners dancing to my Naatu Naatu without understanding a word.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
