How’s the hottest, youngest composer on the block going to cut back on his energy footprint during Earth Hour? By shutting his studio down! Anirudh, who shot to fame with runaway hits like Kolaveri and Chennai City Gangsta, admitted rather honestly, “This Earth Hour, I’m not going to be in the country and so my studio is going to be shut! That’s a lot of power saved.”
As the campaign gets set for another light-free hour on March 29, Anirudh adds lightly, “It’s funny, but as a music composer I don’t use too much light in the studio. There’s just one because working in low lighting is what I usually do,” he added with a laugh. And the consoles and electronic equipment? He quipped, “Those take up a lot of power and I know because I pay the electricity bill for my studio at commercial rates!” Asked to be the ambassador for Earth Hour 2014, Anirudh, who is normally not one to make a lot of public appearances, says that he jumped at the opportunity. “When I received a mail from WWF asking me to be associated with this cause, I replied immediately and said yes. Believe it or not, and I’m not just saying this because I’m here today, I actually switched lights off during Earth Hour last year and followed the cause,” he added. And while they say charity begins at home, Anirudh goes a step further and says that saving power ought to be added to that list, “Growing up, it was a thing at home with my parents that we switch off lights and fans when we’re not using it. So that’s something that is strongly ingrained in me and something that I believe every youngster should try and do,” he said.
Pushing people to turn lights and fans off when they leave the room may be just a small part of what WWF’s campaign hopes to achieve, but Anirudh says it’s a start. “As a youngster it is important to tell youth that every small action can really help to make a change.” And can he help make that change when he’s travelling the world, composing music in studios in the US and UK? “Well, I’m telling all my friends to do this and absolutely anyone who follows me or listens to me on social media, so hopefully there will be a lot of lights being turned off,” he concludes.