Exclusive! Music direction is a collaborative effort with the director of the film: Vasuki Vaibhav

Vasuki Vaibhav is one of the most happening people in Kannada cinema these days. If he is not singing or writing lyrics, he is composing and is part of every other film these days. In fact, in the past two months, he’s had projects that explore three aspects of his multi-faceted talent and he’s got much more coming up. So, we caught up with the musician for a quick tete-a-tete. Excerpts…

Since theatres opened at 100% occupancy in early October, Vasuki has been a busy man. “Last year, at the height of the pandemic, I was just sitting at home doing nothing. Once relaxations kicked in, my films started releasing, beginning with Ninna Sanihake. I was the lyricist for Ninna Sanihake and wrote all eight of the songs on the album. This was a project that I began hesitantly, but ended on a confident high. It was a challenge to write eight songs and ensure that they don’t sound repetitive. It was quite challenging writing eight songs, each with its own distinct hook line. Music director Raghu Dixit pushed me to write and the result has been fantastic, with great appreciation coming my way,” says Vasuki.

Getting a single-card project, as it is called when one person handles a particular job, in this case, the lyrics of all the songs of a film, is not very common these days. “Nowadays what happens is that everyone wants to write lyrics, right from the director to the composer, and, speaking purely from a music director perspective, this results in a collage of lyrics. One song will have few lines by the director, some by the composer and so on and so forth. While composing a tune, the music director will come up with a few lines that remain embedded, after which a lyricist is hired to fill in the blanks. In between the director also makes changes, so, the end product will be written by 3-4 people. There’s a reason that they say that too many cooks spoil the soup. This holds true for songs also. Even for the films that I served as composer, I have collaborated with others for the lyrics, some worked well, some didn’t. A film like Ninna Sanihake is rare to find and that too with eight songs credited to one person,” explains Vasuki.

In the last few days, Vasuki had quite a few releases. “There was Doora Hoga Munna from Mugilpete and Endo Bareda from Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana as singer, then Badava Rascal’s Aagaga Nenapaguthale, which I have sung and composed. Badava Rascal is up for release on December 24; fingers crossed that audiences like the rest of the music, the BGM and, of course, the film. There’s also Rishab Shetty’s Harikathe Alla Girikathe. I have also signed up for a Telugu film called 35, pre-production of which is still on, as well as a Telugu web series as composer; official announcements for these will happen soon,” he says.

Vasuki’s move to Tollywood seems interesting, but are his music sensibilities in sync with the commercial movie flavours of that industry? “Once people watch Badava Rascal, their perceptions of me as a music composer will change. The film is an out-and-out commercial entertainer, and so is the music. The two songs that have been released so far may not point to that, but the next one will make people sit up and take note. I believe it is as commercial as can be,” he says.

Is this new penchant for experimenting with genres his way of pushing his limits and checking his versatility as a musician? “Not really, it’s not about how versatile I want to be. For technicians involved with filmmaking, like a music director, for instance, it is about a collaboration with the director – his wisdom, taste and choice of music and what the subject demands. You have to cater accordingly. Every director is different and as a technician, you have to figure out a comfort zone with him. For film music, you can’t just do what appeals to you and thrust it on the team. However good or bad the music turns out eventually, you have to share the credit with the director,” he says.

As someone who writes songs, composes and sings, what is it that Vasuki likes doing the most? “I am very comfortable expressing emotion in either of the three. I don’t see them as different aspects, which probably comes from my years in theatre, where you are often expected to do everything. That conditioning really helps me in films – if someone asks me to write, I do; if I am asked to sing, I sing,” he says.

Amid all this, Vasuki has also found time for creative pursuits with a band, where he and his gang perform his film and independent songs and contemporary versions of Kannada folk and theatre numbers. “We’ve done a few online concerts, but recently we had our first live show in Bengaluru and the response was overwhelming. It’s given me an impetus to focus on the band as much as I can,” he signs off.