Charan Raj who made his debut as a music director in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu and carved out a niche for himself is now trying to repeat the magic in Pushpaka Vimana, which also happens to be Ramesh Aravind’s 100th film.
With the first song Jilka Jilka featuring Juhi Chawla all set to release on Radio City today, City Express catches up with Charan to know how he has gone about placing music for Pushpaka Vimana. This movie too is on the father-child relationship, like his first.
He says that Godhi Banna... was about the relationship between a father and son and Pushpaka... is about the relationship between a father and daughter. But any commonality does not make his job easier.
“When a film focuses on a relationship, music is crucial to convey the emotional content. The challenge with Pushpaka Vimana will be to ensure that my work is not monotonous,” says Charan, who adds that it was indeed a tough job to match the music to Ramesh Aravind’s acting.
“It is his 100th film while it is my second outing. I have tried my best to create good music for a wonderful plot,” says the young music director, who has been playing music from an early age.
Charan says that for Pushpaka Vimana, the songs and the background score were influenced by semi-classical music. “Even though I have worked on tunes that draw from ragas such as Kapi, Brindavan Saranga, Saraswathi, Hamsa raga and Hindola, I ensured that the songs don’t sound retro,” he says, adding that he has blended Celtic music with Reethigowla raga for one of the songs, Magale Magale written by K Kalyan. “I have also tried bringing a a ghazal flavour in another song,” he says.
In Jilka Jilka, Charan has gone for a festive ring for the lyrics written by Pawan Wadeyar. “We have also had K Kalyan and Jayanth Kaikini, while Kiran Kaverappa has written the lyrics for the other songs,” he says.
He is also working on a special song for Ramesh Aravind. “It will be a tribute to all his work. I have grown up watching his films and working with him for a film is itself a honour for me. He is very encouraging and keeps himself updated as to what kind of tunes I am preparing for Pushpaka Vimana,” he says.
The young music director, who is currently working on the background score, also finds it a challenge to match Bhuvan Gowda’s cinematography and performances of various actors. “I can’t be left behind. So I am pushing myself to catch up,” he says. He ensures that he sings all the tracks before it is sung by a professional singer.
“Music is important to convey all that is unspoken,” he says. “I am filmy and so imagine a running background score even when I am speaking to my wife. While composing music, I am guided by the story. Though I also tend to check with the director what music he was listening to when he penned the story... it helps me relate to his taste,” he says.
The film directed by S Ravindranath also features child artiste Yuvina Parthavi and Rachita Ram.