Music Magician Mani Sarma Interview
Jul 17, 2004, 23:14
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document.write (""); document.write (""" + "" + """);
document.write (""); } After listening to the songs from
Sree aanjanEyam, I tried to reach the playback singer Mallikharjuna. When I
spoke to him with the help of another singer Saandip, I learnt that music
director Mani Sarma was in the USA at that time, and got his contact
information. I called him to get a small interview and he readily agreed, but
it did not happen until the following week. Though it initially happened that I
missed him at the scheduled time, I could finally reach him at 12.00 midnight
and we started chatting. A few excerpts of the interview are presented here.
Sri: Hello sir, thanks a lot for giving your time.
Mani: No problem, Sri.
Sri: Where shall we start? Where did you start learning music? I know that
your father Sarma gaaru used to work as an assistant to the music directors.
Did you learn it from him or was it from others?
Mani: No, my father is my first guru. Whatever I learned is mostly from him. I
used to write all the music notes for him when I was a kid. That is how I
learned the music from a very young age.
Sri: What about your brothers and sisters?
Mani: We are five. I am the last one. The eldest one is a sister; her husband
is a retired assistant deputy commissioner. My nephew, to whom you spoke in
Sunnyvale, is her son. The second one is a brother who is working as a bank
officer; he has a married son. The third is another brother who looks after the
Studio, and the fourth one is another sister
Sri: Did your father encourage you when you chose this profession?
Mani: Initially, he didnt. He doesnt like me to come into this field. He
wanted me to study and do some job. But I was interested in music. It was my
mother who convinced my father to buy me a keyboard. And seeing my interest, he
finally agreed, and that was how I got my first keyboard. Thus, I set out on my
musical journey (laughs).
Sri: As we know, it is very difficult to get a break into the films. How about
your case?
Mani: What, do you think I got a break so easily (laughs)? No, it didnt happen
so. I worked as a keyboard player for 15 years before I worked as a music
director.
Sri: Fifteen years?! Really!?
Mani: (laughs) Yes. I think I am the only keyboard player who worked with four
generations of the music directors. I worked with Sree Ramesh Naidu gaaru,
Pendyala Srinivas, Pendyala Nageswera Rao gaaru...
Sri: Pendyala Srinivas? Who is he?
Mani: He is from Tamil films. Then I worked with Saluri Rajeshwara Rao gaaru,
Ilayaraja gaaru, Shankar-Ganesh gaarlu, Raj-Koti gaarlu - A.R. Rahman and I
used to be keyboard players with them for some time (laughs) - Vidyasagar gaaru
- I was his keyboard player for his first film Dharma Teja. I also worked with
Keeravani gaaru, with Karthik Raja, Yuvan Sankar Raja, and also to Devisri
Prasad.
Sri: Karthik Raja? I thought you and Karthik got break at the same time?
Mani: Kartik got the break before. I worked as a keyboard player for his debut
film ullaasam. Then I also worked with Yuvan Sankars first film, and Devisri
Prasads first film dEvi. I worked for many films as a keyboard player, and
worked in almost all languages. I worked with Hindi directors also, like Anu
Malik and R.D. Burman. I used to work almost 18 to 20 hours per day some times
- two hours in the morning with one music director, next four hours with
another music director, ...I used to juggle between recording theaters. I did a
lot of jingles too.
Sri: Yeah, you worked for Varma with R.D. Burman in antam, right?
Mani: Yes, chalekki undauko... song for antam. I worked with Varma for raat
even before that, which doesnt have any songs. For gaayam, I worked as a
keyboard player under Sris music direction.
Sri: You worked with so many people... and who did you love to work more?
Mani: (laughs) Nothing like that. Everyone has their own style, Sri. Keeravani
has a different way, Ilayaraja is different, ...so is everyone. They are apart
from each other. My first inspiration was Ilayaraja gaaru. So, I like him more,
naturally. But it doesnt mean that I do not like others. I do like many. So,
please do not misquote me.
Sri: So, when did you get the first real break?
Mani: While working with Varma, I was signed for a film by Vyjayanthi banner.
They were making a film with Chiranjeevi gaaru in Varma's direction. That film,
however, was stopped after couple of songs (which were later used in
chooDaalani undi). Meanwhile, I signed two more films with Chiranjeevi garu -
baavagaaru! baagunnaaraa? and Anji. It made a prominent news headline - that I
signed three films with him (laughs).
Sri: But, I think none of these films were released first!...
Mani: No, it was Super Heroes which released first. And then, Chiranjeevi gaari
films followed. baavagaaru! baagunnaaraa? and chooDaalani undi. After
chooDaalani undi, I was hot property. You know the rest.
Sri: Now, back to your blockbuster film chooDaalani undi. The hearsay is that
you changed the lyric to the tune, as Udit cannot sing it properly?
(raamachilakammaa became raammaa chilakammaa)
Mani: That's absolutely baseless. See, first I gave the tune (hummed me the
tune). And then, Veturi gaaru wrote the song. How can raamachilakammaa fit into
this tune. So I asked him. and he said he does not have any problems if I tweak
the lyric. This sort of things does happen in the cine field all the time. Why
blame me alone?
Sri: Well, it's partly because there are some people like me who feel that
Udit kills the lyrics with his mispronunciations. There're, of course, people
who enjoy his songs.
Mani: I always take care that he does not mispronounce in my films, but I
cannot say about others' films.
Sri: But, most of the blame goes to you as you are the one that, we feel, gave
him a great importance, saying that every film of yours would have him
compulsorily, and Udit also said in one of the interviews that you feel him to
be a lucky mascot?
Mani: That's absolutely baseless and wrong. I never pressurized my producers to
bring him into a film. Why, there are many flop films in which he sang in my
music direction, iddaru mitrulu is an example. See I am not responsible for
what people think. I never put a pressure on my producers to book a certain
singer, not just Udit. If the song required a different voice, I opted for him.
I do agree some singers I brought are not good for Telugu, like Sukhvinder
Singhs song in raavOyi chandamamaa (guDuguncham gurtunnadaa...) but not all
are bad. So dont blame me. You can see in the recent songs like Sree
aanjanEyam, there is fresh talent. I always look for freshness in the voices
and I hence encourage them. My forthcoming film Arjun also has one song by Unni
Krishnan. He is a good singer, but I used him after a long time.
Sri: Which do you prefer - tune to lyric or lyric to tune?
Mani: It depends on a lot of aspects, Sri. Sometimes this and sometimes that.
It all depends on the director whom I am working for. Some directors come and
tell
"it should have good mass elements
manchi drum beats unDaali, jabardast
gaa unDaali mana song..." then we need to have the tune first. Some come and
tell this song scene is so and so, and we need to have slow tune. We go for
that. Some directors like Krissna Vamsi or Gunasekhar - their views will be
different from B. Gopal gaaru or someone else. I need to work with everyone,
and so it all depends on the situation. Given a chance, if time permits, I will
definitely like to listen the complete story and leading scenes for the songs.
That will help the film tremendously; it all depends on the director, Sri. They
should know what they want. So, we work based on their needs. I do not have a
problem with either situation. See, for example, I worked with Ramesh Naidu
gaaru, he always works with the lyric to tune basis.
Meanwhile Ilayaraja gaaru does the both ways, and so does Keeravani gaaru.
Sri: Getting back to Ramesh Naidu gaaru, he once said, "why don't people
recognize the song based on the music director, as each director has his own
style, like in Hindi they say this is S.D. Burman's song, that is R.D. Burman's
song, and so on. Why does this not happen in Telugu?" What is your take on that
?
Mani: I think that trend is changed now. At that time, they had a little number
of singers, and people recognized the songs by their singers. Now, the
situation is different. People today will definitely recognize the songs by
tunes. Everyone knows Keeravani gaari signature on his tune, ...same is the
case with Ilayaraja gaaru, Rahman, and I - we all follow different ways of
composing, and people can recognize the tune and say who composed it.
Sri: What do feel when you work for lyrics like adis abaabaa allam murabbaa
choostaavaa naa debba... type songs?
Mani: (laughs) Well, that's what people like. And that lyric was by Sree Veturi
gaaru! See, I cannot say, "the lyric should be like this, and then only I'd
compose it." It's not my choice. It's the choice of my producers and directors.
I am a mere music director, I just go with the flow. Sometimes, you like some,
and sometimes you dont, but that's everywhere. So, leave it.
Sri: What about your seniors who are jealous of your success? Do you also feel
the same way about your juniors who attained success?
Mani: It's that only those people who cannot judge themselves of their talents
feel threatened and jealous, Sri. See, when R.Ps first film music was
released, I was the one who called him and congratulated. Same with
vandEmaataram Sreenivas, or even Devisri Prasad. I never had these type of
feelings. If someone is jealous, it is their problem and not mine. What more
can I say than this?
Sri: What about lifting the songs from others' sound tracks? Even you
sometimes made blatant copies out of a couple of songs. harE raamaa harE
kRshNa... song in okkaDu is an example, and one song in Bobby (lOkam peekE
narakaali...) is a straight lift from of another song.
Mani: I am against copying others' songs, Sri. I am absolutely against it. But,
I did two songs like that, due to the pressure from the directors I worked. And
in all these years, I did only two songs, and well, the one in okkaDu is not
one of them. See, in okkaDu, it is only the chanting - it's a regular one - I
have not lifted it from anyone. The other one is from Bobby, and yes, I did
that because director Sobhan was too keen on that. He wanted that at any cost.
I tried to convince him, but he was adamant. He was upset and went on a walk
for six hours in Pondy Bazaar; I was searching for him in the recording room
(laughs), what to say! Another one I copied was the song in aadi (chikichiki
bambam...). These are the only two occasions out of the so many films I did.
Sometimes, other people do copy my tunes and do not even acknowledge, you know.
It happened recently too - Anu Malik copied a couple of my tunes and didnt
even inform me. I worked with him earlier for viraasat
and some other film, and he knows me very well, but still did not inform me.
But, I am not a person who takes these matters to courts and make more money on
that (laughs).
Sri: How many nandi awards and Filmfare awards you got so far? Of course, you
got one recently, for okkaDu.
Mani: One nandi for chooDaalani undi, and three Filmfare awards so far; I
missed one for Indra and one for Kushi...
Sri: Dont you feel that you missed working with the creative geniuses like K.
Viswanath gaaru, Bapu gaaru, Vamsy gaaru etc.?
Mani: Of course, I do. I ask all the time Vamsy gaaru about working with him.
I'd definitely like to work with him. Similarly, with Bapu gaaru and Viswanath
gaaru. I love to work with them - I will do anything to do a film with them; I
am an ardent fan of them. I like mutyaala muggu so much. It is one of the
classical films. Of course, you will get a surprise soon (laughs).
Sri: You seem to be a very soft person, but then how are you coping with the
problems in the industry - the politics here, problems with producers that
harass without paying, etc.?
Mani: The thing is that there are politics in every field. Can you say that
there are no politics where you work? No! So, we have it the same way in the
cinema field. Just ignore that and do justice to your work. Regarding the
payments, that will be taken care of by the director of the film whom I work
for. So, there is no problem with that either.
Sri: Being a music director, what made you produce the movie Ori nee prEma
bangaaram kaanU!?
Mani: I never produced the film! Initially, when the discussions were going on,
I thought of it, but before I said anything, news media wrote that I am already
producing it. So, A.V.S. requested me saying that problems may result if I then
say I was not producing it, and so I kept quiet. I didnt produce it and it is
wholely and solely A.V.S.'s product. I have nothing to do with it. Actually, I
produced a film called roopaayi under the direction of Nivas (not E. Nivas),
who is the editor with Venky now. But the film was a disaster, and I have not
recovered a single penny from it. That's a bad investment and a bad memory.
(laughs)
Sri: Being a top music director, you work for small-time producers and
directors. Do you give same preference to them also? Dont give a routine and
regular answer please!
Mani: That's an interesting question. The thing is that we do agree films
though they are from the small producers and directors - every one does that.
That is to run your studio. We do try to give a number of tunes to them to pick
from, which we do for any other producer, big or small. It entirely depends on
the them. We never give a single tune and say, "That's it. We're done!" See,
Sri, it is very difficult to be maintaining hits all the time. No one can do
that. Everyone will have flops and hits, and it is not an easy task to give
five or six tunes for one song. When you come to India, be with me for a couple
of days and you will know what I am talking about (laughs).
Sri: You've worked with almost all the big, young, and small heroes. So, whom
did you like more?
Mani: What is your program today? To get me into the soup or what? (Laughs). I
will give a routine answer to it, if you like it or not. All heroes are my
favorites. Each is unique in their own way. So I like them all.
We ended the conversation with this and wished him for his future projects.
Acknowledgments : NaChaKi, Karthik, and Srinivas Vadrevu
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