Singer Sujatha ( FM RAINBOW )
Hi Rahman. I am Sujatha. If we think about Rahman, the first thing is his belief in God, and his belief in the singer. A Music Director must first believe in the singer. He believes in every singer, be it be an old singer, or a latest singer ( however small or junior he/ she may be ). He believes that he can bring about the best from the singer. His humility. He is always the same. *The first time I sang for Rahman was for an advertisement " Nivea talc"*. Those were times, when Rahman wasn't there, but Dileep was there. We had a common friend in the Advertising Field. His friend was also my friend. One day, there was a call at 3 AM in the morning, and said that there was a jingle to be sung. I haven't sung any jingle till then. I just started singing for Malayalam after a small gap then. There was a call saying that a jingle was being dne by a boy by name Dileep. Actually, I was sick on that day. I had some voice problem, like sore throat etc. I told him that I wasn't interested in a jingle, thinking that it was below our level to sing in jingles. My friend went and told Rahman that she isn't well, but he was persising that he needed such a kind of a voice. So, I went there and when I went and saw a very small boy ( Kutti Payyan …… ) . He used my voice in such a manner, that even I didn't know that my voice would sound it that way. In that song, all notes were in low base. So, he insisted that my cough doesn't and wouldn't bother in the recording. It sounded heavenly. That day, I became a fan of him. I think he must be aged around 20 years then. I think it must be 1989 then. The first song with Rahman himself was very memorable. " Pudhu Vellai Mazhai" from ROJA. Of course, the turning point for me was " Thillana Thillana" ( Muthu ) . It was a Super star, Rahman combination. Rahman also liked the way I sang it. He didn't tell it to me directly, but said it to some other people. " Netru Illadha Maatram " is also a song dear to me. Rahman's magic has always been there in all the songs. I have been thinking over of a question to ask you. Q :- When you came into Music Direction, you introduced a lot of new voices like Minimni, myself, Unni Menon. At that time, there were so many established singers around. But you used our voices. May be, it was for the freshness factor.. ( which you can tell ) … Apart from that, what are the other criteria?. Is it the feel in singing, or the voice quality and how do new singers reach you ?. *ARR :-* Sujatha! Thanks for the question. When I was doing Roja, there wasn't any pressure for me, to use this singer, and not to use this singer, so that the cassette would stay on the sale charts etc. There were no conditions stipulated from the Producers side or the Director's side. As a personal choice, I definitely wanted to use SPB Sir, Unni Menon, Chitraji for one song. I don't like it to be one singer singing all the songs. Every song had a different feel. Another reason is that, when I was doing jingles, I had known most of the singers, and a feeling of friendship had developed from that time. A Musicianship without any Intimidation. I didn't have the worry that I need to finish it fast, as some singers had to go sort of a situation. You all have cooperated and helped me to a large extent till I finished the work before. So, I had a desire that you all should be singing for me in the movie. I wanted the entire set of people who helped me when I was doing jingles to be part of the movie that I did, and with that intention I wanted new singers like you, Unni Menon. It was a choice of familiarity and talent, and probably I would say that. Thanks. -- regards, Vithur
