Composer Charanraj brings Tamil folk singer Gana Muthu to Kannada cinema with Bheema

Renowned composer Charanraj is currently busy working on Duniya Vijay’s second directorial, Bheema, his second collaboration with the actor-filmmaker after Salaga. Charan’s score for the teaser has already caught the attention of audiences for the special sounds he has created. The background score and songs are heavily influenced by folk music, much of which is based on Vijay’s vision of what he wants Bheema to sound like, says Charan.

The plan, says Charan, is to have five songs in the film, but this number could go up or down depending on the final requirement. “All the songs are situational numbers and will have folk music influence. The idea is to make the soundtrack as raw as possible, while also keeping it pure. The attempt is to incorporate the folk numbers without corrupting them while rearranging the compositions for the purpose of the film,” explains Charan.

While working on the music of Bheema, Charan has been collaborating with a lot of folk artistes, which, he says, has been a learning experience for him. “We are looking at popularizing certain rarely used music instruments that are predominantly part of folk music through Bheema. It is still a work in progress and we hope that the final product will be to the liking of audiences. So far, the response to the minute elements that are in the public domain have been very encouraging,” he says.

So far, Charan has recorded only one song of Bheema and for this, he is introducing Tamil singer Gana Muthu in Kannada cinema. “Gana Muthu is a folk singer and his song has come out very well. His voice has a very quirky and different texture to it, which I thought was perfect for this song. The recording took about two days, in which the first he spent entirely in figuring out the pronunciation of words and their meanings, to ensure that he was providing the right emotion while singing,” he says. But why Gana Muthu? “When you compose a song, you have an idea about the kind of voice that will suit it and since I had heard Gana Muthu perform earlier, I was convinced that he was the right choice,” he adds.