Rajesh Malarvannan’s story extends beyond Pathaan’s dialogues

CHENNAI: ‘Oru unmaiyaana soldier, naadu thanakenna senjudhunnu yosikka maataan…’ One can’t forget this impactful dialogue of Shah Rukh Khan from Pathaan. Drafting those lines for King Khan was an overwhelming feeling for Rajesh Malarvannan, a city-based dialogue writer, lyricist, and a dubbing artiste.

Having started as a musician, the lyricist’s parents were novel and drama writers. “After my parents' death in 1979, I was raised by my grandmother, who wanted me to take up my post-graduation in Physics. However, I was destined to become a writer,” says Rajesh, who later went on to form a light music band, Sri Udaya Ragam in 1992.

After setting a strong foot on lyric writing, the artiste discovered his fondness for dubbing and dialogue writing in Tamil, his mother tongue. “I established my very first media house, Sai Raj Media, which is the recording studio where leading OTT platforms dub their Indian and overseas shows in Tamil,” explains the lyricist.

Highlighting his frame of work as a lyricist and as a dialogue writer for Hindi films, Rajesh has worked on innumerable films, recent being the Bollywood blockbuster, Pathaan. Talking about his other frame of works, the dubbing artiste states, “I got the opportunity to write dialogues for films like War, Shamshera and Ludo among others. My passion also paved the way for me to write songs for B’town biggies like Don 2, Dangal and Sooryavanshi. I doubled up as a dialogue writer for the Akshay Kumar starrer.”

Rajesh Malarvannan points out the growing trend of the pan-Indian concept dominating the entertainment industry, which makes the public demand content in the comfort of their mother language. He goes on to emphasise how Telugu films are a solid proof for as the dual state films have gone on to lead the TRP ratings in the north, dubbed in different languages and have become a household name.

“Telugu films have been some of the most loved by the Tamil audience. I happened to be the lyric writer for one of 1980s classic films, Sankarabharanam, where I also got an opportunity to work with the legendary singer, SP Balasubrahmanyam. Working with him was a dream come true,” remembers Rajesh.

With an experience of over 25 years in the Tamil industry, the lyricist recently explored his skills with his Hindi song, Yaara Ve, for the Jaipur based band, Swaraag.

Talking about his recent works, Rajesh has been working on the dialogues for the highly anticipated Hindi series, Guns and Gulaabs, directed by Raj and DK.