Soulful melodies have always been an integral part of Hariharan’s movies.
Over the years, tracks like ‘Sagarangale..(Panchagni), ‘Areyum bhavagayakanakkum. (Nakhakshathangal), ‘Chandanelepa sugandham.
’ (Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha) and ‘Sangeethame amara sallapame...’ (Sargam) have created a lasting impact.
The desire to bring in the warmth of haunting music to his films was what prompted the master director to take on the mantle of music director and lyricist for his upcoming movie ‘Ezhamathe Varavu.
’ The recording of two songs for the movie, penned and composed by Hariharan is completed.
The first one is a soothing melody, a solo sung by Yesudas.
With an ambrosial feel of romance, the lyrics goes like this- ‘Ee nilavin smrithiyiloorum anuragamam novu, Sakhi nin chiriyiloorum madhuramen jeevaragam.
’ The other one is a solo - ‘Kaadu poothe, kanavu poothe, kanana poonchola poothe’ sung by Chitra.
Hariharan is at present busy composing two more songs for the movie.
“For composing songs for a script written by the legendary MT Vasudevan Nair, the lyricist as well as the music director need to have a knowledge on the culture embedded in the writing.
After reading the script of ‘Ezhamathe Varavu’, I decided to pen the lyrics.
I realised I would have to closely watch and explain to the music director the whole plot, backdrop, situations and the overall feel of the movie, which I felt would be a difficult task.
So I thought of composing the songs myself,” says Hariharan.
Being a director who has given due importance to songs in his films, what is his take on the quality of songs in recent Malayalam movies? “I will not blame the music directors or lyricists for the lack of quality nowadays.
What can they do if they are not provided with good subjects and situations to test their skills? Music should be treated as another character in the movie.
It should have a shape, that too well moulded,” he adds.
Hariharan says that nowadays, in a majority of films, songs are mere platforms for the actors to present their dance skills.
“In such situations , the music directors as well as the lyricists are helpless and cannot do anything other than creating some peppy numbers,” he says.
Though it was a spontaneous decision to turn music composer, the director says it was knowledge in the basics of music that helped him take the decision.
“I have had a flair for music right since childhood.
I used to sit with the music directors who have scored music in my previous films.
So, I will not say that it was a hectic job for me, but only a sweet responsibility that I enjoyed a lot,” he adds.