Everything is music for Selvaganesh

If music is the language used to communicate with the Gods, then music director Selvaganesh seems to be in constant touch with the Almighty. And how can anything where the Almighty’s involved not be divine? No wonder then that the ace musician has managed to win the hearts of scores of music lovers all over the world.
“My dad, the legendary ghatam player Vikku Vinayakram, is my inspiration and guru.I started touring with him when I was just 11,” he begins and goes on to talk about the other legends, including Ustad Zakir Hussain, with whom he has been touring and performing all his life.
“Ustad Zakir Hussain is the best musician and the best human being I have ever seen. For the last 21 years, I have been performing with him and almost every year, I have a tour with him. Between the years 1999 and 2006, I went on seven world tours with an elite team of which he too was an integral part,” the popular Kanjira player discloses.
Now, after having won international recognition, the gifted musician, much to the delight of the Tamil film industry and lovers of film music here, has begun composing for Tamil films.
Experts and critics in the industry believe that the hit Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, the first Tamil film that Selvaganesh composed music for, owes a considerable portion of its success to the gifted musician’s spell-binding music. His melodious numbers in the film ruled supreme and found their way to the top of several charts. At the moment, the musician, after composing for two other films that are waiting to hit screens — Drohi and Nil, Gavani, Selaathey, is now busy composing for Kulla Nari Kootam.
The songs of both Drohi and Nil, Gavani, Selaathey, which have more of rap and peppy numbers, have come in for some well-deserved praise. But fans are wondering why Selvaganesh hasn’t opted for soft, melodious numbers like the ones in VKK in these two films.
Responds the ace musician, “For me, everything is music. To me, even the ‘kulfiwala’ ringing the bell of his tricycle is music as is the playing of drums at a funeral. Every song is melodious; there’s melody in every song. Having said that, I would like to point out that if I’m doing an album, then it’s my choice. But if it’s a movie, I don’t have a choice but to compose music according to the situation.”
Continues the musician, “In Drohi, the pace is hectic and having slow, soft songs won’t work. I ensure that the tunes suit the situation. I don’t look at deliberately making tunes that become hits.”
He signs off saying, “My next film Kulla Nari Kootam provides scope for soft romantic numbers. So, after having composed for four different genres, I will again be composing soft, romantic numbers.”
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