Vijay, GV Prakash's shared dreams

When it comes to Kollywood, the camaraderie between a director and a composer is one of most important reasons for success.
There have been many dream duos ��������� Sridhar-MS Viswanathan, Bharathiraja-Ilaiyaraaja, Mani Ratnam-Ilaiyaraaja and later, Mani Ratnam-A R Rahman, Shankar-A R Rahman, Gautham Menon-Harris Jayaraj, Selvaraghavan-Yuvan Shankar Raja...A few of these teams might have broken up now, but when they worked together, their output was sheer magic.
Now, a young duo seems to be inching towards finding a place in this exclusive club. We are talking about director Vijay and composer G V Prakash. They came together for Vijay���������s debut flick Kireedam and the song Akkam Pakkam... from the film went on to become the song of the year. Later, Vijay did Poi Solla Porom for which GV wasn���������t the composer and the result wasn���������t quite effective. Now, they are back again with Madharasapattinam, the music of which is beginning to gain steam among the charts.
Talking about his association with GV, Vijay says, ���������With GV, I mostly work on the detailing of the song. We never go searching for tunes; they just happen at the right moment. In fact, for Madharasapattinam, we never went beyond the first tunes that struck us.���������
And GV is kicked about the music he has been able to deliver for the film. ���������Rather than using old films as reference material, I researched about the instruments that were in vogue then. And we didn���������t restrict ourselves to the music of Tamil Nadu. Rather, we used instruments from all over India.��������� In short, their aim, Vijay explains, was to come up with songs that reflected the period setting of the film while also appealing to the youth today. ���������We researched about the music in 1945 ���������the period when the film is set ��������� and found that it wasn���������t very different from what we hear today. The major change has been in sound recording.���������
GV, who already came up with ���������proper period music for Aayirathil Oruvan, agrees, ���������Since this is a love story, I wanted the music to be something that the youth could relate to. We���������ve created a blend between period and modern. After all, we are making music for a producer. And no, it���������s not an artistic compromise. I���������ve tried to walk along the middle of two musical styles.���������
Talking about the songs, GV reveals that Pookal Pookum..., ���������a fusion of ghazal and western classical music���������, has been receiving rave reviews on the Internet. As for Vaama Duraiyamma..., the song that has been a fast mover on the charts, GV says that it���������s a fun song where a layman takes a foreigner through the sights and sounds of Madras. He adds, ���������We wanted all things Madras to come out in this song. We also wanted to include little, little elements of comedy that also gelled well with the song.��������� ���������It took 12 days to shoot the song,��������� Vijay chips in.
But Megame Megame..., which involved a huge crowd, was the one Vijay says was shot quickly... in five days. ���������That was mainly due to Chinni Prakash master (who won the National Award for choreographing Azeem o Shahenshah... in Jodhaa Akbar). The way he controlled the crowd was amazing,��������� Vijay gushes. ���������We wanted to do something on the lines of a Broadway musical, but with a typical Indian touch,��������� says GV for whom the song was also an interesting experiment. He went ahead with unusual choices for singers, the legendary MS Viswanathan and actors Vikram and Nasser. And Vikram, he says, surprised them by singing in five different modulations!
And to complement the grandeur on screen, the duo says that they went for live music, both for the songs and the background score. ���������We used large scale string sections to reflect the grandeur on screen. Normally, string sections get over in four days. For this film, the call sheet ran to 10 days,��������� reveals Vijay.
And contrary to popular perception about period films (slow, pompous and serious), Vijay says that Madharasapattinam is a complete commercial entertainer. ���������It has romance, action, patriotism and fun in the right measure. I feel GV has come up with music that will be one of the best this year,��������� he concludes.
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