JOIN USStreet music fuelled Santhosh Narayanan’s journey
Santhosh Narayanan’s music is one of the highlights of the latest Tamil release ‘Jagame Thandhiram’. With his body of work in a decade-old career, Santhosh has already reserved his spot in the hall of fame of Tamil film music.
Santhosh’s film journey started in 2012, and for many years, he was seemingly shy and media-eluding. However, he has seen a complete makeover in the last couple of years. He attends events and gives interviews. And he is always fashionably dressed.
He credits his wife Meenakshi Iyer for transforming his wardrobe. About his media presence, he says his fear of uttering something insensitive or incorrect is now gone. Having worked with some solid artistes, he now feels he has a well-rounded perspective on art and life.
Collaborations
Starting with Pradeep Kumar and Sean Roldan in his independent music days, Santhosh, fondly called SaNa, has now collaborated with film directors such as Pa. Ranjith, Karthik Subbaraj, Nalan Kumarasamy, Raju Murugan and Mari Selvaraj. These collaborations have fuelled his journey of discovery.
Gaana and Oppari
Ranjith was the one who actually introduced SaNa to the world of Gaana (street-style folk music from north Chennai) while working on both their debut film ‘Attakathi’ (2012). ‘Aadi Pona Avani’ and ‘Nadukadalula,’ tracks from that film, put singer Gaana Bala and Gaana songs back on the map in Tamil cinema. They had fallen silent after the era of music composer Deva.
‘Area Gaana’ in Rathna Kumar’s ‘Meyaadha Maan’ (2017) was a textbook-style track. In Vetrimaaran’s ‘Vada Chennai’ (2018), SaNa had the opportunity to once again legitimately work on Gaana as it perfectly fit the film’s milieu. K Johnson’s ‘Parris Jeyaraj’ (2021) was a culmination of sorts in SaNa’s Gaana journey as they came out with an all-Gaana album, perhaps for the first time in Tamil cinema.
SaNa has also had the rare opportunity of working on ‘Oppari’ songs. ‘Adi en gana mayil’ from ‘Attakatthi’, ‘Irandhidava’ from ‘Madras’ (2014), ‘Epadiyamma’ and ‘Alangaara Pandhal’ from ‘Vada Chennai’, ‘Karuppi’ from ‘Pariyerum Perumal’ (2018) and ‘Manjanathi Puranam’ from ‘Karnan’ (2021) are some of his biggest hits.
Melodies and Mainstream
SaNa’s albums for Raju Murugan’s ‘Cuckoo’ (2014) and Mari’s ‘Pariyerum Perumal’ are undeniable mainstream masterpieces. His slightly stylised take on Tamil folk music in ‘Karnan’ too received high appreciation. It opened the doors of Tamil folk music for SaNa. The 38-year-old credits director Mari Selvaraj for it.
Karthik and Nalan, both known for the quirkiness and wackiness in their films, have offered SaNa complete freedom. Naturally, we have some of the most wild Tamil songs from their collaborations with ‘Jigarthanda’ (2014) and ‘Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum’ (2016) being the standout albums.
Finding his voice
A little more than a decade ago, SaNa was a struggling artist, who didn’t know where his next meal would come from. Today, he is seen as a celebrity ally in the fight against oppression. For him, it has been an ever-evolving journey.
Now, SaNa intends to discover even more variety in music. When he started to create a song, he was relying on ‘reference songs’ from directors. Now, he feels moving closer to the roots enables him to understand the art form better and make songs organically, instead of just copying.
With DJ Snake’s mix of ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ fresh off his back, SaNa is gearing up for some international projects as well. More power to him!
(The author is a freelancer who writes on film and entertainment).