RRR: MM Keeravaani brings India its first Golden Globe

The day couldn’t have started on a better, more musical, note. The very talented very versatile and humble M M Keeravaani won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for the song Naatu Naatu in RRR. Minutes after the triumph I connected with the Keeravaani whom I have known for over thirty years and whom I consider to be the most accomplished composer from the South on a par with Ilayaraja. He was still at the Golden Globe awards ceremony. He sounded ecstatic and still as humble as grounded as ever crediting his wife Srivalli, his cousin Rajamouli and those who believed in him (including this writer) for his Golden Globe victory. Keeravaani is no stranger to international acclaim. October 19, 2019, and the Royal Albert Hall in London echoed with his musical score of Baahubali .

Reacting to news of the honour, Keeravaani had said, “When I was informed that the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra would perform my score in Baahubali live as an accompaniment to the film’s screening by producer Sobhanadri Yarlagadda, I was initially disbelieving, then humbled. I don’t know of any other Indian film that has been honoured this way. Later, when I started to absorb the good news, it made me feel really satisfied with all the efforts I had put in while scoring the background music of the film.” In an industry with declining musical trends, the composer stands tall as a beacon of hope and has stayed steadfast to his vocation.

“Remaining true to my vocation and my refusal to fall back on derivative art has kept me ‘uncompromised’,” he explained in an earlier interaction, adding, “My wife Srivalli has been my best fan, critic and support. I couldn’t have remained true to my vocation for so long without her.” Not many may know that the ace composer scored the classic song Gali mein aaj chand nikla in Zakhm. On who his favourite directors in the Hindi film industry are, Keeravani replies, “I can’t name just a few because there are quite a number of projects that have elevated my music. But in general, I am very happy with my association with Mahesh Bhatt, Rajamouli, Neeraj Pandey and Ram Gopal Varma.” Interestingly, the talented music composer is closely related to Baahubali director, S.S. Rajamouli. “Yes, he is the son of my father’s youngest brother Vijayendra Prasad. Rajamouli and I have worked together in several films, including Baahubali,” said Keeravani, who lists the soundtracks of Jism, Sur, Zakhm, Paheli and Special Chabbis as some of his favourites, not to forget the Baahubali series for the background music. However, the modest composer says he would rather speak about others than himself. “My favourite composers and singers keep changing from time to time. Not surprisingly, Frank Sinatra, Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle rank as his all-time favourite performers, while he lists A.R. Rahman and Sachin-Jigar of Badlapur fame among the composers. As for the older lot, Keeravaani says that he loves the tunes of S.D. Burman, R.D. Burman and Madan Mohan. Keeravaani also recently discovered the great works of Marathi composer Sudhir Phadke and has come to adore him ever since. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and Instagram