He has had “just a brief stint” in classical music. The only “remote” connection his family has with music is that his grandfather was a singer with the All India Radio.
But Rahul Nambiar, the Malayali sensation in the Tamil and Telugu film music industry who has hits including ‘Adada mazhadaa’ (Paiyya) and ‘Vaava nilava’ (‘Naan Mahaan Alla’) to his credit, has a voice that leaves you impressed right at the first go. The singer from Kannur (Kerala) who loves to sing “happy songs” talks about straying away from the corporate zone to the world of music and his upcoming album ‘Rahlaap’.
Excerpts from an interview.
The road to hit zone
I was brought up in Delhi and we have been in Chennai since 1993. When my father had enough of me banging on the table all the time, he put me in a table class! Later he sent me for guitar lessons and then to learn carnatic vocal from Balamurali Krishna, a disciple of the carnatic exponent by the same name. I won Sun TV’s ‘Sapthaswarangal’ contest in 2001 and went on to sing a number of jingles. After pursuing Masters in Business Administration, I went to Bangalore where I worked two years. My stint with the corporate world saw me losing touch with music and I went bonkers! Soon I chucked my job and courted music.
The going wasn’t easy
I did not want to knock on anyone’s door begging for chances and started off with doing music shows with Sunita Sarathi who had sung for A R Rahman in ‘Fanaa’. I did almost 200 shows with her and gained the confidence to do live shows. In due course, I met many music directors. My first song was ‘Bhoomikku velicham’ for composer Vijay Antony’s Tamil flick ‘Dishoom.’ The song was not a hit but my voice was noticed. I was soon part of the chorus and harmonies for composers like Mani Sharma, Imaan and Vidyasagar.
The big break
That happened when Mani Sharma gave me the song ‘Vasantha mullai’ in ‘Pokkiri.’ The song was an instant hit and put me on a bigger platform. Soon Yuvan Sankar Raja called me for the Prithviraj-starrer ‘Satham Podathe.’ I have been fortunate enough to work with the most talented composers of our time including Ilayaraja, Harris Jayaraj, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Mani Sarma, Vidyasagar, Hariharan-Leslie Lewis (Colonial Cousins), Sandeep Chowta, G V Prakash, Devi Sri Prasad, Karthik Raja, Vijay Anthony and Imman in their Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam projects. I have about 200 songs to my credit now!
Chennai , a fertile ground for music
Chennai is buzzing with diverse kinds of music and musicians. The place has connoisseurs for church music, choir music and also what I call the car music (music people listen to in cars)!
Date with Mollywood
‘Swapnangal kannezhuthiya’ (‘Bhagyadevtha’), ‘EeaRaavil’ (‘Mulla’), ‘Venmukilin’ (‘Mummy & Me’ ) and ‘Innoree mazhayil’ (‘Malarvady Arts Club’) are my Malayalam numbers. I’d love to be associated more with Malayalam.
‘Rahlaap,’ a dream come true
Bass guitarist and singer Aaalap Raju and I launched the band ‘Rahlaap’ last year. But we have been working on our debut album by the same name for four years now. The tagline of the album is ‘Music beyond Genres.’ It’s a Hindi album with seven songs that have the elements of rock, jazz and classical. Indian tunes have been used in the orchestration. The album has been recorded with live music. Three of the songs are penned by Raqeeb Alam who wrote the lyrics of ‘Ringa ringa’ in ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ The album will be released soon.
Surviving competition
I’ve come across many people who have dedicated their lives to music. Talented singers are coming up every day. The key is to avoid being labelled as a singer of one particular genre. I love singing happy songs. And since I boast of no formal training, I think I can do justice to westernish numbers. While formal training puts you on a certain platform, the disadvantage is that your voice might not be liquid enough to be moulded into another genre.
Watch out for...
A funky number I’ve done for Prabhu Deva in a yet-to-be-named film that has its music composed by Harris Jayaraj.
Wedding bells are ringing
I met Chithra, a speech pathologist with the Apollo Hospital, thanks to Facebook. We are tying the knot this month at Guruvayur.