In an exclusive interview with OTTPlay, singer Rahul Nambiar talks about working with music directors DSP, Ilayaraja, his journey in music so far and a lot more
Last Updated: 04.27 PM, Aug 20, 2021
Rahul Nambiar has wooed his audience with his singing talent and proven to be a singer who can perform in multiple languages with great perfection. He started his journey in music by winning the series Sapthaswarangal on Sun TV in 2001. He then went on to work with many leading music directors like Ilayaraja, DSP, Mani Sharma, Vijay Antony, and YSR. For a versatile singer like him who can also perform Western, classical and hip-hop music, delivering Odu Odu Aade, the Malayalam version of the single from Pushpa, would have been a piece of cake. Let’s hear it from the playback singer himself.
In an exclusive conversation with OTTPlay, the singer talks about Pushpa, working with Ilayaraja, his future endeavours and more. Excerpts:
The first track from Pushpa was released recently after a long wait. What has the response been like and how excited are you about it?
I am very excited about the song and the reception. I got a chance from DSP to do the song, so I'm thankful to him. I heard the Telugu version was pretty raw. All words in Malayalam become hard to sing with the same punch. It's a very poetic language. To sing the lines like “Vettaikku purapedunne, Ini ottathil munni unde”, I had to go wild. It's more like dialogue delivery than singing actually. The song is raw and DSP’s beats are so cool. So I am hoping everyone will love it. I see Allu Arjun in a different setting now. He's always a stylish guy, but this is the wild side of him I'm seeing now.
Talking about the song, the single was released in five languages, and got huge releases online with a lot of focus on singers who rendered in these languages. How different is this from the usual process?
For Allu Arjun, all these versions matter a lot because he has fans all across the country and especially in Kerala where they call him “Mallu Arjun”. He's really going pan-India and like you said we always see dubbed versions much later. But it's nice to do all the versions during the initial stage itself because the focus is better. Also, the dubbing usually is done by separate teams. So here, the music director was sitting down and getting all the versions he wanted done that made a huge difference actually. So this was a lot of fun.
You’ve worked with DSP before, but how was it working with him on this song?
I worked with DSP after a very long time. I’ve done a few songs with him and he's actually a really fun guy. He's completely unique because he wants a song in a particular way. He's almost like Raja sir wanting his melody to be the way he wants. You don't have to provide anything, just do what he says. In DSP’s case, when he says he wants a particular style and tone for a particular word, you just do it. He has that clarity. DSP will want a song exactly how he wants and that is a feature of great music directors. He makes them so groovy and catchy. But it's a lot of fun to record with him. We chat a lot in between the takes. It’s a super chilled out atmosphere.
Are there any differences in singing for huge Telugu films compared to other industries?
Definitely. I have to give it to the marketing team because they make a big difference. Having a big star is a plus but in a day and age where there is a lot of quality content, you have to stick out. And I think that is being done.
How was it working with Ilayaraja sir?
It was a dream come true because I never thought I'd sing for him. I've not learned much about music and his songs have important notes and a classical touch to them, especially in his Malayalam songs. Malayalam is like a third language for me after Hindi and Tamil. I had to sing in Malayalam, and in Raja sir's tune. Like in Pazhassi Raja, there is this one word in the song which I had to sing with Raja sir's beautiful melody. The word is “Adharapudathalamathilidariyo”. So I had some crazy experiences with Raja sir and I am in total awe of his talent and beauty and I've just been pure lucky and blessed that I got to sing for him. I've sung around 40 songs for him. It's very divine.
You won Sapthaswarangal in 2001. How important was this in deciding your career and shaping your singing career
That was the time when I probably started listening to Tamil songs. I was in Chennai for maybe 7 or 8 years and then this opportunity came in Sapthaswarangal. I was still singing only Hindi songs but then I had to take up Tamil songs and go to the competition. Singer Ranjith had won the previous season and he helped me a lot and so did the producers. During this time, I started listening to Tamil and Malayalam songs. Then I thought, apart from just bathroom singing, people might actually enjoy my singing. When I won, it was like maybe I can take music a little more seriously. But I finished my studies, then worked and after that, I just took the dive into singing professionally.
You got your debut song in the Tamil film Dishyum, which had Vijay Antony as music director. How did this come about?
Touchwood, I've never had to approach anybody for chances. I have to thank Sunitha Sarathy. She went for a recording with Vijay Antony sir and she suggested my name to him and that is how the song happened.
You started your collaboration with Aalap Raju a while ago and the two of you are still working together. How does this chemistry still work?
I happened to meet Aalap while performing for a cultural event at a college. They did not have a singer and I was pulled in to sing. My main connection with Aalap was that I was listening to music in a different way. My ears weren't open to bass playing yet, and that was what attracted me to him. And yes, he is a Mallu and we hit it off instantly with all the silly Mallu jokes. So there was a vibe. We thought we would do something together and that's how Rahlaap happened. Now we've actually gotten out of Rahlaap and now we have a third person Ranjith and now the trio is called Makka. We were also performing in different places before the pandemic and now, we are working on some stuff together.
The pandemic is forcing artists and singers to reinvent through social media and YouTube. What have you been doing to get through the pandemic?
All of us have had our own challenges. I was very upbeat but then the pandemic really caught up with me. The fact that it's gonna drag on for weeks, then months and now over a year really had an impact on me. I was releasing things on my own initially, but once everybody got onto the bandwagon, it was content after content, which meant nothing to me. After that, I thought I'll do something for my own satisfaction. I started learning new things. In between, I had to record for Raja sir and I had to record in my home studio. So I would say it was a lovely time for everybody to start posting content but there is also the other side to it, the fact that there was too much content.
What are your future projects?
That would be more Makka projects as we are trying to move forward. We're planning to do more independent songs and we might even get into composing. We are moving one step at a time right now.