Suganth M (BOMBAY TIMES; April 23, 2020)

Many musicians and celebrities have come out with songs during the ongoing lockdown. And today, Kamal Haasan is all set to release the Tamil song, Arivum Anbum, which will be “a song of hope, positivity and love in these testing times”. Kamal has written and sung the song, apart from directing its video, which features several South Indian artistes. We talked to the actor-director about why he chose to make this track, composed by Ghibran. Excerpts...

As a politician, you have been vocal in expressing your views about the Coronavirus pandemic. So, what made you make a song as well?
There is a certain psychiatry in music. We, as children, are trained to become peaceful with music, and this starts with the mother’s lullaby. It might sound funny, and at times, it doesn’t even have lyrics, but it instills peace and calm in the child. It lulls them into calmness and that is the idea of the song.

What does the song address?
It will tell you what we can be, what we have already been… it’s a reminder and an anthem of hope. We need it now because we are worried about what will happen next. Things are going to change and we will have to convince ourselves that we can adapt. The song is a reminder of what we are capable of. This virtual collaboration has made me proud of my tribe, not just locally, but internationally... the tribe of artistes who are doing so much. And this is just the beginning.

At a time when the less-privileged are facing an existential crisis, do you think that it is possible to spread positivity and hope through a song?
I have my own way of calming my people, who have been neglected. This may definitely not feed them, but in case they are lonely and living in dire conditions, somewhere, this piece of music will help them stay positive.

Is the title of the song, Arivum Anbum, your way of saying that love and wisdom will be constant in the face of such a calamity?
I believe in the ‘meme’ — not what you see in trolling, but memory. Genes might get diluted over a span of generations, but a sincere saying/thought will live for thousands of years. Hence, Arivum, meaning wisdom and intelligence, and Anbum, meaning love, which are all-encompassing words, are what we need at the time of such a crisis.
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KAMAL’S COLLABORATORS

The celebrities who have collaborated on this song include Anirudh, Ghibran, Shruti Haasan, Siddharth, Shankar Mahadevan, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Andrea Jeremiah, Bombay Jayashri, Sid Sriram, Mugen Rao, Devi Sri Prasad and Lydian Nadhaswaram.

Kamal Haasan on writing, singing and directing a song that features several leading South Indian artistes and will be out on Thursday
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 22, 2020)

Amid the lockdown, Kamal Haasan is doing his bit by providing food, milk and vegetables to those in need, reaching out to even the most remote villages. “I am barred from going out of the house because of my age, but there are people in my party who are helping me take essential items to the needy,” says the 65-year-old actor-turned-politician, adding that he is also keeping his creative side active by “writing a script with a friend of mine,” but refuses to get into the details.

Meanwhile, Haasan has written and recorded a song titled “Arivum Anbum” which talks about hope, positivity and love during these trying times. It is composed by Ghibran and the music video which he has also directed, features actors, singers and composers, including Anirudh Ravichander, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Devi Sri Prasad, Shankar Mahadevan, Shruti Haasan, Bombay Jayashri, Siddharth, Lydian, Andrea, Sid Sriram and Mugen besides him.

“Any artiste sitting idle wants to do something today. I had angst and anger to vent, which led to this song. We wanted to create an anthem,” the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee states, agreeing that music is important for mental health as well. “It is not just a healer, but also a teacher. It’s easy to remember; there’s a reason why film songs are so popular. Chants assist our memory.”

Score composer of Saaho, Mohamaad Ghibran on how the performances in films alter his method of working
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; June 24, 2019)

If the teaser of Saaho is anything to go by, Ghibran's background score is reeking of quirk. It's not quite the quality you'd associate with a thriller. But he says the Prabhas starrer is a "complete package" filled with humour, and hence demanded the element of fun. Evidently then, Gibhran has been winning praise for his composition. He discusses mixing EDM and orchestral sounds for Sujeeth's thriller.

What did your early discussions with director Sujeeth about the score's identity touch on?
The film, its demography and characters, are all presented in a manner that's larger than life. As far as scoring is concerned, several factors determine the instrumentation. This film demanded a symphonic sound because there are emotions at play, and the characters have different shades.

Can you chronicle at what point in the film-making process is a background score composer roped in? 
Usually, after the dubbing. As soon as I get the rushes, I watch the rough cut with my director. I see myself as the voice of the director. Emotions are conveyed through the actor's performance and dialogues. But, a director may want to say something more; something that's non-verbal. That depends on the score, and that's where I come in. We discuss what the director wants the audience to feel when watching a particular scene. Often, I even have to connect a seemingly irrelevant scene at one point in the film to a point where it finds its value. All that comes with the score. Once we have decided on these elements, I begin the process. Then, I disconnect from everything.

When creating music for a three-hour film, what is the kind of investment of time that you put in?
I will first watch the film and understand the characters' motives and the scenes' motives. I will pen the score through musical notations. Sometimes, if you see my first draft, you may find it funny. There may be a big [scene unfolding], and I will back it with only a piano and one tune. But the process of programming [is time-consuming]. I watch each scene a minimum of 100 times before adding any instrument. When you score for symphony orchestra, you have 80 people working on it. So you have to write notes for each one of them. On average, it takes 20 minutes to create two-minutes' worth of music. Saaho has a raw [undertone]. After recording the score, we transformed it to achieve an EDM [Electronic Dance Music] kind of tune. That's the process that's currently underway. Saaho has a 50-50 ratio of orchestral and electronic arrangement. The characters are human, not mechanical. However, the landscape is action-oriented. To get the right texture of the locality, [we employed] the electronic tunes. To depict the human complexities, I took the orchestral approach.

What role does an actor's performance play in determining the score?
Actors give us cues with their acting. An extraordinary actor [communicates with] his eyes, body and [dialogue] delivery. That determines how much we need to enhance [the scene]. If an actor is very good, there may be no need for music. But, if the performance is bad, the music must [make up for] the emotions he has left out. If a scene is intensely emotional, and the actor has the inability to convey them, the music has to make up for what's missing. We refer to a few actors as legends because they don't depend on [anything]. Even if the [camera] angle is not good, the lighting is bad, the editing is poor or there's no music, they can still [hold the scene] with their [act].

Was there an instance where you had an opinion on how a scene's score would be but changed it owing to the way it was enacted? 
There was one in the Kamal Haasan film Uttama Villain. His character meets the step-father of his [estranged] daughter, who he [Haasan] doesn't know he had. It was a complicated and lengthy scene. It featured Haasan and Jayaram, another multiple award-winning actor. I [created] the entire three-minute score, but needed to include only 20 seconds.