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	*ragasiyamai - behind the scenes:* an interview with karthik raaja
saregamaremix - 11 oct 2003 - karthik raaja lounge...

were you happy with the way songs of ragasiyamai turned out - with respect to your involvement in the script, song situations etc. ?

I was pretty happy with the way the songs turned out and that too inspite of the very short time, like just about 1/2 a day for the recording of each song, due to low budget.

Scriptwise, I have heard plenty of them and refused a lot too. That said, having a good script is not at all enough. It depends totally on the making of the film through screenplay, casting and a host of other factors.

I myself was a little disappointed with the way they had presented the movie and was upset with the song picturisations. Well, i guess, one can never expect everyone to always shoot songs like Maniratnam or Shankar do.

of the songs of the movie, which ones were composed to lyrics and which ones had lyrics written to tune ?

most of the songs were composed for lyrics, as the tune gets messed up when they write words for the tune. oduthey was initially saayuthey, I had asked the lyricist to change the word saayuthey since it did not enhance the tune and finally I chose oduthey

I think that only the kaathal manniley and thevayillai songs were written after the tune was composed.

raavodu raava - though this gaana/dappanguthu song has some funny lyrics, it seems to support/promote 'raw' alcoholism. any comments ? especially since most of your dance sangs so far have stayed clear of these kind of lyrics.

this was just a fun song and anything in this sense does not harm anyone unless they try out stuff which has been mentioned in the song.

thevayilla thevayilla is musically pretty rich with some intricate and enoyable arrangements. however, the lyrics seem light-weight. your comments ?

I had planned this song to be like dad's tholin maylay. After the words came in, the whole structure had gone a bit down and the energy level dropped. You can't expect anyone to be Kannadaasan and that too in this period of time.

thevayilla thevayilla also has some classical styled alaaps in the mostly rock kind of song, rendered by Tippu, who get his first solo under you. any comments on the singer ?

Even this song had a very short production time and we had tippu sing it during late night and had to finish it off fast. Tippu is a good singer and I hope he doesn't become repetitve with regard to his style of singing.

kadhal mannilay has a heavy feel to it due to the need to convey pathos. any inspirations for this song ?

No inspirations as such, only my dad's kind of rendering, which the director expected. I just composed it to have a Mode,as in Jazz, that I am sure hasn't been heard in the recent past.

what does karthik raaja, the composer think of karthik raaja, the singer ? did you plan the songs to be released in your voice or did the producer desire it ?

I usually have the practice of singing the track in most of my songs before the singers get to do it. While doing the track for Shreya's voice, the producers got to hear it and since then they wanted my voice on that song and after a long discussion I thought I'll give it a try and it came out good and thats the reason you're getting to hear it.

My dad once told me that "If, I had been in your place,I would've become a singer!". I take this as a compliment from a great genius and I have a lot of practice to do as I've got a lot of good response for my voice.

kangalum kangalum, the very well arranged title song. any reasons behind selection of the (mumbai based) vijay praksash as the singer ?

Vijay had sung a few songs for me earlier, one in telugu promotional video for the Police force of Andhra Pradesh and my jingle for Kwality Walls ho jaaye dil ka connection and I just preferred to have his voice on this song.

oduthey oduthey is your first song which has a garbha/dandiya beat. any comments on its usage. did the situation demand it or you designed it so ?

The director narratd to me a situation where there was a dandiya sequence before the love song but did not have the intention of combining it. It was me who decided that we'll start with the dandiya and at the dandiya party they look at/into each others eyes and forget all the rest of the happenings around them and they get lost in a wonderful world of love where only the two of them exist.

I was totally disappointed with the way they had shot it, even though I had given them this story line which enhances the whole song. They have also cut the song into bits and pieces which ruins the whole structure.

oduthey oduthey, who wrote the hindi lyrics for the initial dandiya part of the song ?

The hindi lyrics were done by Rahul Seth, one of the young upcoming talents and I hope he has done a good job according to you all.

Pop star Anaida was the person who introduced me to him. It was all done over the phone and we are yet to meet in person.

which one is your favorite amongst the songs of this movie and the reason ?

oduthey oduthey is my favourite song and the reason is, I have been wanting to do this kind of a song for a long time, since my dad's song oru poonga vanam from agni natchathiram . I haven't heard that feel since then and tried to incorporate just the feel in this song.

what are your next expected releases ?

The projects that I'm currently working are:
singaara Chennai: a kind of a thriller
nee + naan = : produced and starring Parthiban.
lingam : from Parthiban again
thuli thuliyaai: from the producers of winner the movie and few other projects which have yet to be named.