“As Hans Zimmer says, you understand what the director is looking for and give them the opposite. That’s the surprise you add,” says Anirudh Ravichander, describing his approach to scoring films. With DC marking his latest collaboration with Lokesh Kanagaraj and The Paradise bringing him back to the cinemas with Nani, Ravichander finds himself at the centre of two of South cinema’s most anticipated releases this month. Both films also offer a window into the working relationships he has cultivated with a new generation of artists — relationships rooted as much in trust as they are in creative chemistry.
Ravichander began his career as a film composer in 2012 with Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s 3. The soundtrack gave him his first runaway hit in “Why This Kolaveri Di?”. Two things have remained consistent since — his ability to arrest public attention with his albums, and his affinity for younger film directors. Ravichander elaborated on this in a conversation with Billboard India last month. “I feel this sync with directors like Lokesh, Nelson, or Karthik Subbaraj, and it’s probably because we started in films around the same time. I think age matters a lot in those cases.”
He credits these directors with being more aware, and respectful, of his idiosyncratic work ethic. “These guys know not to discuss delivery (timelines) with me. I might get back to them at the eleventh hour, but they know I won’t compromise on the music,” he emphasises. This faith, in turn, drives Ravichander to deliver his best work. “Their confidence also adds pressure. I know I need to deliver my absolute best for them.”
His process, however, is not always as straightforward. “Generally, I work on the bigger track for two-to-three weeks but in some cases, the timeline completely blows up,” he says. “The title track for Velaiyilla Pattathari (2013) for example, took a couple months to crack. I would keep adding different hip-hop and metal elements every week to see what fits,” he adds. This complicated process also leads the composer to take drastic measures at times. “There have been times where a night before delivery, at 10 PM, it struck me that the arrangement on a track doesn’t work. I wipe the slate out and start afresh then.”
The composer has reaped the rewards of his laborious approach, garnering both critical and public acclaim for his soundtracks. DC (starring Lokesh Kanagaraj) has been lauded for its soundtrack with tracks like “Thaalam Trip”, “Hangova” and “The Raga of Revenge” being hailed as the film’s true emotional pillars by film critics. His next film this month, The Paradise (starring Nani, Sonali Kulkarni and Raghav Juyal), promises a similar expansive soundscape. Ravichander, however, maintains a simpler outlook on his releases. “I think my job is to just make the film known, to make sure the songs work, and to take the film’s opening collection from say 10 rupees to 12 rupees, so I hope that happens.”
Watch Anirudh’s full conversation with Billboard India on 50 Notes with Anirudh Ravichander, now live on YouTube. The composer opens up about his career, songs, the story behind “Why This Kolaveri Di,” and “Raga of Revenge”, and the evolution of his sound across Indian cinema.
