Text: Shilpa Ann Stanley    Interview: Suhas KM    Images: Renuka Arun

After listening to the song Seetha Kalyanam, from Bejoy Nambiar’s Malayalam-Tamil bilingual anthology Solo, Renuka Arun’s immaculate voice just captures you in all the right spots. A Kochi-based software engineer, she tells us how she manages music, work life and still have it all.

The song ‘Seetha Kalyanam’ is one of the top songs right now. How did you get the opportunity to sing this song?

I went to a studio in Panampally Nagar for some work, where I had the privilege to meet Sooraj S Kurup. He mentioned that he has listened to a few records of mine. The very next week I got a call from Sooraj saying there was a project called Solo. He asked me whether I could do this song Seetha kalyanam. I never knew that this movie was such a big project. I am not a movie person, so I didn’t know much about Bejoy Nambiar. Finally, after singing Seetha Kalyanam I knew how fabulous this project and the team are.

Your first Telugu song was Entharo Maha…. under Gopi Sundar’s music direction, which was a big hit and won you an award. How was the experience for you?

Gopi Sundar was looking for a Carnatic singer for this song. Guitarist Sumesh Parameshwar suggested my name to him. Unfortunately, I was hospitalised at that time with a fractured leg after I had met with an accident. But that didn’t stop me from working on my dream debut. My parents weren’t interested to leave me because of my health issues. But nothing could stop me from singing. This song was a breakthrough in my profession; it was a huge hit which led to a lot of awards and appreciation for this song. And the best part is that I still get messages and appreciation for this song daily.

You are quite involved in Carnatic western-fusion. Both are contrasting. How is it possible for you to handle both Carnatic music and Western fusion evenly?

I am essentially a Carnatic musician. But I never neglect the other genres of music. I think that’s why I didn’t find any difficulties in performing western-fusion. See, performing fusion, should have its own essence. Or else it will be a gaffe. And mainly I don’t want to be earmarked as a classical musician because I work on all styles of music.

Nowadays many singers are altering their career into music direction. Do you have any plan like that?

I don’t feel that I have the ability to be a music director. Even though I compose Keerthanam, I really don’t know the technical side of it. I prefer singing. I need to enhance my talent in singing.

I have seen this trend in the music industry where a few singers appear and then they make a great breakthrough by singing one song and afterwards, they just disappear. Why so?

See, singing one song which is a big hit doesn’t mean that you have made it in the industry. Or it doesn’t mean that you have chances to get more offers. Music industry is a really competitive world. We have to put a lot of efforts in it.

When did you develop your passion for music?

I started learning music when I was four years old. My father was also involved in music. Both my grandmothers have also learnt music.

How do you successfully manage to balance your work life and music?

I have great love towards both the fields. I wanted to take both, my work life and music life justly. My family is a great support. Many people advised me to discontinue my job when my first song was out. But still, I managed to handle both. Even now, I go for music classes weekly. I myself am completely occupied with music and work now.

Who is your favourite contemporary Malayalam musician?

A.R Rahman is my all time favourite musician. Taking the older generation, I strongly prefer Johnson sir’s music. And R D Burman sir. I regularly listen to their music. Among the current generation, I like Prasanth Pillai’s music. He has an unconventional path towards his music in each and every movie. I also like M. Jayachandran, Gopi Sunder, who is an excellent music technician.

Featured image source: cinemania.co.in

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