‘Working with Mani sir is always a dream’

Sid Sriram has been in the headlines for quite some time now after it was announced that he would be making his debut as a composer for Dhana’s directorial Vaanam Kottatum that is bankrolled by Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies. The singer-turned-composer along with director Dhana hustled their way to our office through the Chennai traffic to talk about the album of the film. “I was in Chennai in June for a show and that is when I received a message from Dhana saying that this film is in the making. Then we met, and he narrated the story to me, which drew me to it. Then we had a discussion with Mani sir at his office. Working with him is always a dream and things fell in place,” begins Sid.

After a brief pause, Sid adds that he wanted to be a music director. “It wasn’t planned. When it happened, I realised that it was a ‘scary decision’. I am only used to singing to music directors in their studios. Once it happened, I started enjoying the process,” he opens up. Talking about roping in Sid as the composer, Dhana says that he was in the hunt for a composer after the story was penned. “Mani sir wanted to try out a new composer. We listened to tracks of new composers who made their debuts last year. That was when we heard that Sid wanted to be a composer and we decided that it would be a good idea to bring him on board. I have known him since Kadal, which was our first film too. He sent us a few tunes, which were impressive,” Dhana tells us.

Sid says that he quite liked the idea of Dhana and Mani Ratnam when they asked for something unique for the album of Vaanam Kottatum. “I have released a few independent albums as well, which are experimental. When they told me about the storyline, I believed that I could do this. Since then I have pushed myself to keep making tunes that weren’t heard before. Especially in the context of Indian cinema,” says the singer. The first single from the film Kannu Thangom crooned by Sid Sriram himself with Shakthisree Gopalan which has lyrics by Siva Ananth is already a chartbuster. “The film is warm and revolves around a family and its sentiments. So, I composed Kannu Thangom in a way that it conveys the soulfulness of their love. I had a good time singing with my dear friend Shakthisree, whose first film is also Kadal,” says Sid before he tries to wrap up the session. However, we wouldn’t let him go without singing a couple of lines for us from Kannu Thangom. He agrees and begins as mobile phones in the room are on record mode as they didn’t want to miss it. Sid begins, “Kannu thangom raasathi unnai kandaalae nenju muchoodum theevali sonna nambu mavaraasi.” There was applause all around as Sid makes his way out of the room.