"I always wanted to be a music director,” says this 29-year-old budding star, who delivered a superhit in the form of ‘Dr Love’ that released this Onam and is still running in several theatres. The film’s highlight was its chartbusting music, with its songs, ‘Ninnodu Ennikulla Pranayam’ and ‘Akaasham Doore’ especially becoming very popular.
Not surprisingly, Vinu is extremely happy. “In the ‘Ninnodu Ennikulla Pranayam’ song, I preferred to use only the piano so as to convey the emotions better and give it a poetic feel” Many believe that new-age Malayalam songs do not have the depth, melody and beauty that older ones had. But for Vinu, melody is paramount, he says. “I always give importance to melody first. Even if it is a fast-paced number, it should have a melodious touch.”
Even though ‘Dr Love’ brought him into the limelight, Vinu is not entirely new to the industry. Yet, the Thiruvalla-iite had no contacts when he made his debut in Tollywood in the 2008 release, ‘Ankith, Pallavi and Friends’. The songs of the movie were a big hit too.
Speaking of how he managed to compose songs for a Telugu film without understanding the language, he says, “The director and the lyricists of the film helped me a lot. I did my homework by hearing hundreds of Telugu songs and understanding the cultural nuances.”
He still remembers how ‘Dr Love’ project came his way. “Two years ago, it was through a friend that director K Biju contacted me. Composing for a youth-oriented theme interested me since I knew it would be vibrant and energetic music,” says Thomas.
In ‘Akasham Doore’ which is a college celebration song in the film, Vinu has used specific instruments. “I wanted to give a natural feel of a college fest with all the howling and fun,” he says.
While studying in college, he was doing jingles for radio and TV commercials. Some of his works were for V-Guard, Kalyan Sarees, AVT Premium Tea and Malayala Manorama. He says doing jingles and composing for films are two entirely different things. “In jingles one has to grip the audience with one’s music in the 30 second slot but a song gives you a lot more freedom.”
During his college days he composed a Christian devotional song, ‘Divya Santhwanam’ which is still popular. “Its acceptance instilled confidence in me to become a music director.”
Vinu, following in the footsteps of his parents - both of whom are lawyers - did take his degree in law, but gave it up after a year’s practice. “I was not interested and after one year, I took off to pursue my dream,” he says. Given the success he’s seeing in the field of music, the risk was certainly worth taking.