“SCENES IN THE TEASER DEMANDED POWERFUL LYRICS”

Ko Sesha is an upcoming lyricist who had debuted with Vaaya Yen Veera from Kanchana 2.  He has penned all the songs in the Jiiva-Kajal Agarwal starrer Kavalai Vendam whose audio is soon to be released.

In this exclusive conversation with behindwoods, the young lyricist shares his thoughts.

Intro
I am a Chennai lad, did my schooling at PSBB, K K Nagar. I am a great fan of Raja sir. Listening to his songs and singing them relentlessly made me unknowingly absorb the nuances of musical tunes and the importance of sounding and sandham in lyric-writing.

How did writing begin?
I was always hooked to books and read a diverse range of authors. I had been a regular contributor to my school magazine. After school, I wrote extensively for The Hindu’s youth supplement. 

Tamil lyrics
Lyric writing is adding words to emotions and imaginations. So it was never difficult for me to start writing in Tamil. Like everybody, I was a rasigan of Tamil cinema and Tamil songs first. I used to write down Kavi Arasu Kannadasan’s lines when I was a kid, and be amazed at the sheer depth of the simple lines he wrote. However, I believe that the lyricist in me was unleashed only after I discovered Kavignar Vaalee. I used to scribble amateur Tamil kavidhaigal back then when my friend Karthikeya Murthy was composing a song for a TV serial title song, and he wanted me to write the dummy lyrics before showing the track to the producer. He ended up selecting my dummy lyric for the final track!

Kavignar Vaalee and me
Though I have met Vaalee sir on a few occasions, to me, he has been what Dronacharya was to Ekalavya. I feel I have a cosmic connect with his soul. Every time I hear or read something he has written, I feel awakened. My life’s biggest treasure ever will be the two books he gifted me with a personal note handwritten by him.

Leon James and me
Leon is one of God’s biggest gifts to me, because truthfully, if at all my career as a writer has begun today, he is responsible. He was two years my junior in school and we had worked in a play then. A couple of years ago, he decided to compose a song and put it out on YouTube just for fun. When he came to know that I wrote the lyrics, we just jammed one day, and that was how Vaaya Yen Veera (Kanchana-2), our first break, was born. He is my good friend and a caring guide.

Songs released
Vaaya Yen Veera from Kanchana – 2 was my first release, which luckily went on to become a hit. I also wrote Vaazhum Naal from the film Moone Moonu Varthai that was sung by none other than SPB sir, composed by Karthikeya Murthy. A couple of Songs – “Un Kadhal Irundhal Podhum” and “En Pulse Yethitu Poriye” from Kavalai Vendam have also been released, and I am happy they are doing well.

My upcoming projects
My fingers are currently crossed for Kavalai Vendam, in which I have written all the songs. Leon has come up with a refreshingly youthful album featuring amazing singers like Armaan Malik, Sid Sriram, Benny Dayal, Andrea, Inno Genga, ADK among others and I am thankful to him for trusting me completely with his music.

I have written a couple of songs for the upcoming film Veera, again, in the music of Leon. I have also written a duet song for Vijay Antony in Yemen, and a few lyrical portions in Saithan's RR. I have written songs for a couple of other films, one called Manju Virattu and another untitled film, apart from a few dubbing projects. I have jammed with the talented Vivek-Mervin who are my good friends, and something exciting might come out of it.

How did Saithan teaser happen?
I wrote a song for Vijay Antony sir in his upcoming film Yemen and have shared quite a few conversations since then. His teaser for Saithan ran into a controversy because of the lyric, and I saw on Twitter his decision to pull it down and re-release the teaser with new lyrics.

Little did I imagine that I would get a phone call from him the same night asking me to work on the new lyrics. The scenes in the teaser demanded a powerful lyric, so I wrote a kind of war poetry, in the style of verses that come in Kalingathu Parani. He was very satisfied with my work, and in fact, people who heard it felt the usage of Tamil was quite powerful.

My idea of lyric-writing

I am not restricting myself to writing songs of a particular genre. I am happy penning any song that comes my way! I want to write lyrics that can be easily understood by all.  Saying things subtly is out of vogue today, so in order to hit people's hearts directly, you have to write lines that are simple, yet powerful and catchy, yet classy! In fact, I firmly believe simplicity is the highest sophistication. Maybe this is because I come from the Vaalee School of Song Writing!

We wish you the best Ko Sesha!

Jyothsna Bhavanishankar

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