You could say the violin is my comfort zone: Arrol Corelli

Right in his debut film, Mysskin’s Pisaasu, Arrol Corelli made

music

lovers sit up and take notice. After having done a few niche films, the young composer has now had his first film album that is in the mainstream space. Excerpts:


What made you want to become a composer?My musical journey started when I was in school. My dad had wanted to learn music when he was young, but he did not get any proper opportunity. Since I was musically inclined, he enrolled me in a violin class, with a violin teacher named Ravikumar, when I was five, and later with acclaimed violinist A Kanyakumari. And from 10 years onwards, I started learning the piano from Sven Peters. I After completing my Plus Two, I told my parents that I’d like to pursue music as a career, but my dad wanted me to have some security in life as this is a risky field, and so, I did CA. I worked for a few years, and once I’d earned enough to invest in music, I quit my job, and started looking for opportunities. This was quite a difficult phase. I was meeting filmmakers but nothing was working out. Finally, I got a chance to meet Mysskin sir. He gave me three tests. And once he was satisfied, he told me that I’d be the music director of his next film. He did not even know that it’d be Pisaasu. After that, I worked on Pasanga 2, Savarakathi, Inayathalam and Thupparivalan before Annanukku Jey came my way.


Even though you have done a handful of films, they had no scope for songs. Weren’t you bothered that you wouldn’t be reaching the masses?A film is a director’s vision, and I feel that my part in it is to give that vision a new dimension through music. So far, all the films I’ve done have been more background score-oriented with songs that were mainly required for the situations. Pisassu had just one song, the songs in Pasanga 2 were mainly functional, Thupparivalan had just one line that was a musical theme, and Savarakkathi, too, had only one song. Even though Pissasu had just one song, I received about 10 offers after its release. But I was very choosy as I did not want to take up projects in a rush. Annanukku Jey was the first mainstream story I took up.


How would you describe the music of Annanukku Jey?It is the first film of mine which has given me the scope to come up with a complete album. There’s a variety of genres — folk, jazz, gana, death metal. And I could do the songs as a commercial package. There are seven songs, and each one is commercial, and have been sung by popular names — Andrea, Deva sir, Velmurugan, Gana Bala, Anthony Dasan and Emcee Jesz. Of course, there are a couple of new talents that I’ve introduced — Lakshmi Pradeep and Sammie Kootaliz.


Your music is more violin-dominated. Is it because you are a violinist yourself?Yes, because the instrument and I understand each other. I know what can be done with it and what will work with it. Plus, when I develop my musical ideologies, be it a melody or an expression, I hear it as a violin piece first. You could say the violin is my comfort zone. And coincidentally, my debut was in Mysskin sir’s film. He is a filmmaker who believes that his ideas get expressed better through strings. But I’ve moved from this space in Annanukku Jey. Actually, padathula violin-ae edukkala. Barring one scene, it was not required at all. There will be a lot of brass elements, and the sound will be rhythmic and earthy when you listen to the album. The music will be celebratory — be it for happy or pathos scenes. The lifestyle of people in the mofussil areas is like that, somewhat loud, and the music will capture that. I’ve so far worked on dark or emotional scores, but there will be a vibrancy in this one.