Dedicating 36 years of his life to instruments, scoring music and spending hours together at the rerecording studio, Harikrishna has now, with Yajamana, taken the director’s seat. “For me, cinema is a creative process and music is part of it,” says the first time director about his new role.
The musician who started out as a mechanic says he first tried his hand at music thanks to his father. “I didn’t go with the intention to learn,” says Harikrishna, who in conversation with City Express tells us about his journey from handling spare parts, to keyboards and now wielding the megaphone.
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● Mechanic to musician
His journey as a musician started at the age of eight. He joined an orchestra at the age of nine. At the age of 14, he turned a car mechanic, at which point he took a three-year break from music. Then, at 17, it was music director and comedian, Sadhu Kokila who pushed him back to composing. Among those who have helped him climb the ladder are actor Tiger Prabhakar, music director, Hamsalekha and filmmaker, Ravichandran and now Darshan.
● Learnt filmmaking from Ravichandran
Cinema is not new to Harikrishna, who admits that the passion towards this art drove him to associate with filmmaker Ravichandran. “I lived with him for 10 years and that’s when I learnt the art of filmmaking,” says Harikrishna, who has lived one day at a time. “I believe in taking what comes my way. I don’t think too much about work but look forward to e learning from it,” he says.
● I don’t like bifurcating cinema
As a director, he has been involved in every department of cinema. “I don’t like to bifurcate them into sub-categories: writing, music, acting, editing and cinematography. For this film, I sat with the dialogue writer, actors, producers and technicians. As a result, we have a complete story,” says Harikrishna.
● Practically, I got to learn the art of direction from B Suresha
Debutant director has learnt a lot from theatre personality and actor, B Suresha, the producer of Yajamana. “Learning to construct narratives, highlighting important points---I was educated about the grammar of direction from him. I have learnt a lot by watching cinema, but I got practical idea from Suresha,” says the first-time director, who shot Yajamana in a schedule span of 100 days. “This film had the best production team,” he adds.
●Minimal talking with Darshan
Darshan and V Harikrishna’s friendship goes back a long way. As actor and music director, both of them have associated for 25 films. “I have always seen Darshan as a superstar, and I want him to remain a superstar,” he says. So, was directing Darshan a fan moment? “I had to be a responsible fan,” quips Harikrishna, who tells us that the two of them don’t speak much. “We hardly speak, but make sure that our work speaks for us,” he says.
●Audience preference foremost
The director makes a special mention about the film’s climax, which he feels is the best part of the film. “The climax concludes and defines the story of the title and film,” he says. As a music director or director or writer, Harikrishna follows one key principle: keeping the audience’s tastes in mind. “I look at things from the viewers point of view. After all, cinema is made for them,” he says