The release of the Tamil movie ‘Muran’ in Tamil Nadu and Kerala on September 30 is something very special for these brothers - one has written and directed it, the other has composed music and the third has sung in the movie.
The trio is Rajan Madhav, his twin brother Saajan Madhav and the younger one Naveen Madhav respectively. If you have heard those names before, you guessed it right. They are the sons of music composer par excellence, late Raveendran.
The film is not a debut for any of them. Rajan has been in the industry for 10 years now, has assisted Shaji Kailas and a couple of other directors; Saajan has composed songs for six movies, which include Vinayan’s ‘Yakshiyum Njaanum’ and ‘Raghuvinte Swantham Rasiya’ and works in Telugu and Tamil, and Naveen is a known playback singer in Tamil and Telugu and would soon be foraying into Kannada.
“We have been born and brought up in Chennai and have been influenced a lot by Tamil culture, be it movies or songs. I did want to make a movie in Malayalam and language came as a hurdle. Regarding ‘Muran’, I have been working on the story for a couple of years. It is a thriller,” says Rajan.
Muran has actor-director Cheran and Prasanna playing the lead. ‘Muran’ (the ‘n’ is pronounced as the one in ‘Arun’) meaning ‘contradiction’ is about Nanda (Cheran) and Arjun who belong to different worlds. They have their own ideologies about life. One is okay with the way it goes, the other wants it his way.
So, how was it directing Cheran, himself a director?“When I decided to cast him, many warned me that it wouldn’t be easy to work with a director. I had that apprehension and even shared that with him. Then he told me that if I am clear about what I am doing, he would never interfere. We really did argue on some points, but it was all very healthy. The best part is that when he saw the final product, he was extremely happy,” Rajan says.
Haripriya, Nikita, Jayaprakash and Suma Bhattacharya form part of the cast.
“I don’t want to claim that ‘Muran’ would take Tamil cinema to places,” says Rajan, adding, “Unlike Malayalam film industry, Tamil industry has always given a push to youngsters and newcomers. In Malayalam, experience is given priority. So, it is not easy to break into Malayalam industry.”
Talking about his twin brother Saajan, Rajan says, “We have the same taste when it comes to music and movies. So, when I decided to do the movie, I didn’t have to look elsewhere for a composer.”
Saajan shared the same point, “Our musical tastes are very similar. So, it was easy to work with him.” ‘Muran’ has five songs, most of them melodies. Saajan has also done the background score for the movie. “In fact, once the re-recording was done and when we saw the final output, all of us felt so happy. I am not saying this because it is Rajan’s movie. But all of us are very much satisfied with the way the movie has come out. We hope the audience too would like it,” says Saajan.
Naveen, a very popular singer in Tamil and Telugu, has sung three songs in ‘Muran’. Naveen has hit numbers like ‘Pokkiri Pongal...’ and ‘Daddy Mummy...’ to his credit.
‘Muran’ is produced by UTV Motion Pictures.