Creating music beyond borders

Major Mahadevan, Mohanlal’s iconic character, had a great role in the life of music director Siddharth Vipin. He was watching Mahadevan’s first innings Keerthi Chakra in a theatre when he got the first call to Mollywood. He debuted with Kurukshetra, the second movie of the Major Mahadevan series. Now, through 1971: Beyond Borders, Mahadevan’s fourth outing, Siddharth is making a comeback in Malayalam after a hiatus.

“I started my career through Major Ravi sir’s Kurukshethra. I could get no better launch as the songs Jwalamukhi... and Oru Yathramozhi... featured in the chartbusters. Later, I composed music for the film Currency. But after that, I did not get any interesting projects and I shifted to Tamil where I did nine films, including Idharku Thaane Aasaipattai Balakumara, Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham and Jackson Durai,” says Siddharth.

“I was waiting for a re-entry in Malayalam when Major Ravi sir told me about this project and asked me to compose a song for a particular situation. At first, I worked on a Malayalam song, but the director asked me to change it to Tamil. And the Tamil song Pesipokuthu... which was out is getting good comments. Soon, the Malayalam song will be released,” says the sound engineer-turned-musician.

“I have known Major Ravi sir since 2005. I met him first at a theatre. He had worked with my uncle Radha Vinodh Raju. At that time, I was working as a sound engineer and had worked in a few Hollywood films in the sound effects department. He asked me to meet him at his office in Chennai and during that meeting, he asked me to join the crew of his Mission 90 Days as the effects engineer. And as a bonus, he cast me as Rajiv Gandhi in that movie,” says Siddharth, who later acted in seven Tamil films. On his future projects, Siddharth says, “I am committed to three Tamil films. In Malayalam, some movies are currently under discussion. Here I want to do more films as a music director than an actor.”