Kamal Haasan and composer Ghibran, who share a warm relationship thanks to their collaboration on films like Uttama Villain, Papasnasam, etc. have pulled off a coup amidst the national lockdown.
Under the actor-politician’s initiative, they have come out with a quirky single titled Podhu Nalam (For the good of the people).
They have roped in top playback singers and percussionists like Anirudh, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Bombay Jayashree, Shankar Mahadevan, Devi Sri Prasad, Sid Sriram, Shruti Haasan, Siddharth, Andrea, Mugen Rao and Lydian Nadaswaram for the project.
What started as a casual idea thrown between Kamal and him has become something huge now, Ghibran told DC, speaking exclusively about their out-of-the-box concept.
“A week back, Kamal Sir called me and said ‘let’s do a song during this crisis period when people are morally down due to the corona pandemic’. He insisted that it should be something really positive that spreads love among the people.
So, we chose ‘Love’ as the basic theme. Social distancing, in a way, is also love as we do not want to spread the disease to others and loved ones. We tried to imagine how different the world will be after the coronavirus goes away for good. And finally, we zeroed inon the concept of ‘A love filled new corona-free world.’
Apparently, Kamal took just two hours to write the lyrics.
“This ensemble was not there initially in our minds. But, as we were pondering various creative ideas, everything fell into place,” Ghibran said.
It was a Himalayan task to pull it off in a short period, the composer recounted. “I sent the tracks and coordinated with all the singers as to what to sing and how to croon etc. They recorded their parts in their respective homes and sent the recordings to me online. There were a few back-and-forth online exchanges before it was finalised.”
Explaining that he wanted to give a Gregorian chant (strong chorus) touch to the single, Ghibran said he posted the requirement online, asking for musicians with home recording setups, without giving out many details.
“I got hundreds of responses and we selected 37 out of them from across the globe,” he added.
“We are confident the single track on ‘Love’ releasing in a couple of days will transcend time and will be relevant not only to today’s scenario, but to any such situations,” he says.
