Established composers can earn as much as film hero: Krishnakumar

Chennai, Sep 13 (IANS) After creating melodies for three successful films, southern composer Krishnakumar, fondly called K, says successful composers can sometimes make as much money as a film hero. He also says the joy of recording music with live artists can never be replaced by digitally generated music.

"I feel the career of a music director is lucrative provided he or she takes up right projects and work with good production houses and directors," said K, who composed music for Tamil superhero film "Mugamoodi".

"Today, an established music director with multiple projects makes as much money as a successful hero. In fact, sometimes the composer makes more money because the actor works on one project at a time", he added.

The journey, which came with his share of struggles, has otherwise been been smooth sailing for him, K says, touch wood.

"It's been quite a stimulating journey since my first film 'Yudham Sei'. Several offers came my way, but I decided to wait until Tamil film 'Aarohanam', directed by Lakshmi Ramakrishnan. The project didn't require too much time and effort so I instantaneously accepted it. Moreover, Lakshmi is a good friend."

The 25-year-old says he was lucky as "most new composers either get meagerly paid or not paid at all. Even I get paid quite less, but thankfully I started out with a well-established director".

K composed 11 tracks for "Mugamoodi", of which "Vaaya moodi suma iru da" became very popular.

He says he doesn't follow any trend while creating music.

"Audiences here like songs that have mass appeal. I don't follow one particular genre, but I am inclined towards melody and always look forward to compose tunes that are catchy," he said.

He also prefers live recordings.

"It can never be replaced by digital music. I have used certain electronic sounds in combination with live recordings to maintain the contemporary feel and to add to the pace wherever required," he added.

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