Exclusive! I'm nervous about how audiences will react to the songs of James once they see the visuals: Charan Raj

The music composer admits to having sulked a bit after the mixed response to the Trademark song, but says that he has given James his best, given that the Puneeth Rajkumar starrer is more than just a film, it’s an emotion.

James composer Charan Raj with Puneeth Rajkumar

As the world awaits to see Puneeth Rajkumar’s last commercial film, James, one man whose work on it has already been scrutinized is composer MR Charan Raj. Three songs are already in the public domain – James title track, which came out a year ago, The Trademark song and Salaam Soldier – and two more will be for all to hear when the film releases tomorrow, March 17.

Finally done and dusted with all work related to James, Charan Raj is not exactly breathing easy now; he admits to being nervous. “When James started off, it was, no doubt, a big project, with Puneeth Rajkumar sir in the lead. Although I had worked with his audio banner and production house earlier, this was my first film with him, so, it meant a lot to me. It was a dream come true for me. In the initial days, sir used to guide me and director Chethan (Kumar) on how to innovate and we worked on multiple versions or rather scratches, as we call them, to figure out what works and what doesn’t. But then the pandemic struck and we got delayed and subsequently, when sir passed away, we were all in shock. Honestly, right now it is a strange situation – we are thrilled to bits that the movie is coming out, but we also miss Puneeth sir a lot. And now that he’s no more, James is no longer just a film, it is an emotion. I’ve done my best, but it’s now up to audiences to decide whether they like it or not,” he says.

At the time of Puneeth’s demise, although Charan was still working on the songs, all but one had been shot with track versions. “The sad bit is that one song that sir loved, a duet, had not been shot, so, it will not be in the movie. Its absence has not affected the film, though. But given that it is a song that Puneeth sir liked, we are looking at making a lyrical video and releasing it shortly,” says Charan, who also regrets not being able to make the Power Star sing for his last film. “It was part of our plan for the film to have him sing one of the songs, but we were not fortunate enough to have that. As a composer, I have been lucky to work closely with him when I got him to sing the title track of his home production Kavaludaari."

Charan’s association with the late actor began prior to Kavaludaari. “My first interaction with Puneeth sir was when he called and appreciated my work on Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu. After that during the process of composing music for his brother Shivarajkumar’s Tagaru, he was a great source of motivation. Every time he heard a demo of a Tagaru tune, he would personally call with his feedback. For an upcoming music director like me, that was a big deal. The music of Tagaru was presented by Puneeth sir’s audio banner, PRK Audio. Kavaludaari, Popcorn Monkey Tiger and now, James, are all part of his music banner. Puneeth sir not only loved music, given that he was a gifted singer, he also had great taste in different genres of music. Very often, I’ve had conversations with him about the artistes he thought I should give a listen to. He also gave me all the freedom in the world to experiment with music,” says the composer.

James also marks Charan’s first onscreen outing, having featured in the lyrical video of the Trademark song. “If it were not for James, I would have never done that. The only reason I agreed was because it was our tribute to Puneeth sir. Honestly, I thought the video would have fleeting glimpses of me at a keyboard and I was game to do that. But once the actual picturization began, the plan changed and they wanted me to groove and do some moves. I was a bit scared because it was my first time in front of a camera and I had no idea where to look, when and how, but the team guided me well,” he says.

Talking of Trademark, when the song came out, there was mixed reaction among fans. Does this expectation that fans have put Charan under pressure? “Yes, of course it does. Visually, the reason we did not release the actual video was because Chethan sir could not afford to reveal too much about the film prior to the theatrical outing. There won’t be a surprise element when people come to see the movie. As for the audio, yes, such mixed response puts me under a lot of pressure. Normally, in my case, what happens more often than not is that people don’t warm up to my songs immediately. It takes them a few listens to begin to like them. So, I am quite used to people saying that they didn’t like my music at first. But having said that, when I don’t get positive response right away, I tend to sulk a little back home,” says Charan.

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