TM Krishna turns playback singer, lends his voice to Gypsy

TM Krishna is one of the few musicians who questioned hegemonies in Carnatic music. After taking concerts from sabhas to streets, he also organised a concert outside a church last year. Now, the vocalist is making inroads into the silver screen as a playback singer in director Raju Murugan’s next flick, Gypsy, which has Jiiva and Natasha Singh playing the lead roles.

“I have watched Raju Murugan’s movies and liked his critical take on society and politics. When he approached me with Venpura, a song that calls on people to go beyond all human boundaries and come together, I was naturally drawn to it. Raju contacted me through a common friend and then we met along with Meenakshi Narayanan (Santhosh Narayanan’s wife) and discussed this possibility. I am glad it worked out,” Krishna tells us.

In cinema, the script, screenplay and each situation decide the nature of the lyrics and melody. For Krishna, when he read the lyrics of Venpura, he loved it. “But it was only when I heard the track sung by Santhosh Narayanan did the words come alive as an imperative, wonderful universal calling. Venpura is an example of how music gives poetry new life,” he says.

Most Carnatic musicians stay away from singing in films and we wanted to know what kept Krishna stay away from Tamil cinema. “Many people have presumed that I am or will be unwilling to sing in films. This is entirely untrue — I have always been open to it. It just did not happen until now though I did have a few songs come my way in the past,” reveals the singer.

Apart from Bombay Jayashri, Unnikrishnan and Nithyashri, who have been successful in both Carnatic music and film music, there is no presence of Carnatic singers in films. “Of course, it is also true that there are Carnatic musicians who do not want to sing in films. But it must also be said that music directors must feel the need for a Carnatic trained voice,” he states.

Though TM Krishna likes all kinds of movies in multiple languages, comedy is not his cup of tea unless it is a political parody. “As my friends say, maybe I am just too serious! And when it comes to film music, my favourite music director is Ilayaraja — I grew up with his sounds and I love listening to SPB and Chitra’s songs,” says the singer. Well, many have asked TMK about trying his hand at composing music for films and Krishna says that he will take it up if someone feels that he is worthy of that task.