An obsession called music

"Ussele ussele" goes the title track of Srinivas' latest album. But what does that word mean? "Well, it is a Tamil word, used by fisher folk. I was trying to set a tune to a techno beat and hummed "Ussele Ussele". And the name stuck," says the playback singer. The album, produced by Rajeev Menon, with six interesting tracks, hit the shelves recently. The peppy numbers, including the `pop' version of "Eppo varuvaro", with a strong classical tang have been sung by Chitra, Unnikrishnan and Kalyani Menon, besides Srinivas. It is the singer's second `pop' venture after "Paarvai", which he collaborated with Pravin Mani.

For the chemical engineer, nurtured by a music-loving family, it has been quite a remarkable journey into the world of notes and tunes. While living in Thiruvananthapuram, listening to stalwarts such as Semmangudi and K.V. Narayanaswamy at an impressionable age whetted the lad's musical appetite. "I used to sing a lot of Hindi film songs in school and college," he remembers. His other musical influences were Kishore Kumar, Mehndi Hasan and R.D. Burman. "But I was an Ilaiyaraja maniac. My dream was to meet him."

Srinivas' dream did materialise in 1988 when he met the composer, who asked the young man for a demo tape. "I was really amazed as I was a song being recorded. The studio actually turned me on!" Of course, that meeting did not bear any fruit.

In early 1990s, "Roja" happened and a young composer called A. R. Rahman took the music world by storm. "When I heard Rahman, I knew this guy was different. His music was fresh and he launched a whole lot of new singers. I had hope and decided to meet him." That meeting changed the course for Srinivas. "Those days, Rahman was easily accessible and heard some songs sung by me. In fact, I told him I was a bathroom singer and his reaction was "Good"! But he was a little unsure as I was not living in Madras at that point."

That too changed. Soon Srinivas moved bag and baggage from Coimbatore to Madras on a transfer. "I initially did backing vocals and tracks", says the singer, who admits he was disappointed that he never got to sing solo.

Meanwhile, he sang jingles for Rajeev Menon (Bru, ICICI). That did the trick. Rahman heard Srinivas and the outcome was the peppy "Oo la la la" from Menon's "Minsara Kanavu".

Though the song did not do much to prop up his career, Srinivas was noticed by other composers, including Ilaiyaraja. ("I have sung about eight to 10 songs for him"). He also got an opportunity to sing for Jatin-Lalit ("Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya") and more recently, for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy in "Dil Chhata Hai".

But when he talks about Rahman, Srinivas' eyes light up. "He allows the singer to experiment and explore. He is a godsend for aspiring singers," gushes the singer, who was Rajnikanth's choice for "Minsara Poove" from "Padayappa". Incidentally, the song won Srinivas the State award.

The greatest moment of his life, however, was a phone call from the maestro M. S. Vishwanathan, who has come out with a Tamil ghazal album "Sangeetham Santhosam". "He is such a simple person, a singer's dream as a composer. I recorded a couple of numbers for the Tamil ghazal album. Nearly a week after the recording, he called me up from the studio. He said he was mixing the song and said the song sounded great. What more can I ask for?"

Ask Srinivas, who enjoys listening to ghazals and world music about his favourites and he responds with "Endaro mahanubavulu... ". There are so many of them I cannot single out anybody."

The singer is all fired up about his forthcoming projects - one with Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, another with V. Shantharam's grandson, Balachander's "Paarthalae Paravasam" (Rahman again) and of course, M.S.Vishwanathan's Tamil ghazal ablum.

Today, his elder daughter Saranya (10) is following in her father's footsteps. In fact she sang a line in `Tenali' and can now be heard in "Ussele".

Does Srinivas feel the need for formal training?

His instant reply is "Singing is all about bhava. Without it, the purpose is lost. Let you heart dictate your singing, then you will feel it more."

SAVITHA GAUTAM

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