Churning out everlasting music

Gurukiran! The name that has remained synonymous for foot-tapping and groovy numbers in the Kannada film industry for more than a decade is back in the limelight. It is no exaggeration to say top actors like Puneet Rajkumar, Upendra, Shivarajkumar, and many others from the Kannada film industry danced to his disco numbers, thus making him one of the most successful music composers. Aravind G Shivkamal traces his career so far.

However, over the past few years everyone thought Gurukiran’s best of the times are reaching an end. That’s not true. The year 2010 was a comeback year, as Gurukiran leapt back again into the top league with Aaptha Rakshaka and Mailari becoming super hits of 2010 for which he composed soothing numbers for both the movies.

Gharane Ghara Gharane (a classical music tune) from Aaptha Rakshaka and Mailapura Mailari (sung by Puneet Rajkumar) from Mailari found slot in the top 10 Kannada film songs of 2010.
“The year 2010 started on a good note with Aaptha Rakshaka, a silver jubilee hit in the Kannada film industry after four years. It feels nice to be a part of this success. The year also ended with the success of Shivarajkumar-starrer Mailari. The music of Nagavalli, Telugu remake of Aaptha Rakshaka, also turned out a hit. In all, it was a memorable year for me,” says Gurukiran, who’s in great demand these days.

The last 3-4 years were not very lucky for Gurukiran except for Puneet Rajkumar’s movie Bindaas. The entry of new composers like Manomurthy, V Harikrishna, Sreedhar Sambhram and Joshua Sridhar made film-makers almost ignore the presence of Gurukiran. Though not completely out of circuit, Gurukiran was in the reckoning by holding successful musical concerts.
With two hits in his kitty in the year 2010, Gurukiran proved his critics wrong. Once again, Gurukiran, also an accomplished singer, is busy composing music for a number of films.
Gurukiran started his music career in 1994 as an assistant to well known music director V Manohar. Earlier, after completing his graduation, he used to perform in orchestras as a singer and a keyboard player. It was A that launched him as a full-fledged music director. Since then, there has been no looking back for him.

The songs of the movie were super hits even before the release of the film. This was followed by Upendra, another super hit movie, also directed by Upendra. The songs became a rage among the Kannada cine-goers. Thus, Gurukiran firmly rooted his feet in the industry churning out great hits.

Jogi, released in the year 2005, with Shivarajkumar in the lead, proved to be a milestone in the career of Gurukiran. His score for Vishnuvardhan-starrer Aaptha Mitra, the prequel to Aaptha Rakshaka, was also a super duper hit. The success of Jogi’s music took him to Telugu film industry to score music for the remake of the same movie.

“Though there had been more offers from Telugu, I could not take all of them as my hands were full with Kannada films,” he points out.

In Kannada, he composed memorable hits for Kariya, Chandu, Chitra, Maurya, Shubham, Pallakki, Bombaat, Lava Kusha, Sathya in Love, Aramane and News. 

Gurukiran, who never dreamed of becoming a music director, is also a singer and an actor. Though he could not make a name as an actor, he appeared in cameos. Gurukiran initially tried his luck in acting. He acted in three Tulu movies, his mother tongue. But the industry embraced him as a music director. “Be it acting, singing or scoring music, it is total fun. When the team is good, everything goes well. I enjoy all my work,” he notes.

The composer is an excellent singer. He sings his own compositions.

“My entry into films just happened. As a youngster, I never thought I would make a career in the film industry though I liked films. Those days movies were the only source of entertainment. I used to watch a lot of movies of Dr Rajkumar. I wouldn’t know who scored the music for those movies, but I enjoyed them. They were all good music,” he adds.

Twelve years into the industry, he is still going strong and there is good demand for his music.
How was the feeling when his debut music composition became a hit? “Initially, I wanted my music to appeal to youth, especially college-goers. Hip hop numbers with foot tapping music appeal a lot to youngsters. My music just catered to the youth. I compose what’s in for the season,” says Gurukiran.

The combination of Upendra-Gurukiran is very well known in the film industry. But the duo parted their ways due to personal reasons. Last year, when Upendra announced his return to direction through an untitled film, his fans were under the impression that old friend Gurukiran would score the music. But Upendra disappointed them by handing over the task to Harikrishna.

“Music is time-based. The trend keeps on changing. What works in one movie may not work for the other. Style songs are temporary, where as melody songs are ever green. What’s liked by the audience in that particular season catches up fast, and we try to work around that,” says Gurukiran.

Gurukiran has worked with several new directors. His music for each of these movies has been different from the other. “There cannot be one kind of music that would appeal to music lovers or cine-goers. Change is continuous. Even the kind of music we score changes each season. I have worked with lot of new directors and these movies have completed 100 days. It was a great experience to work with new directors. And my music too has been different,” he contends.
The year 2011 also appears to be promising for Gurukiran as his hands are full. He is scoring music for Kannada films Lakshmi (starring Shivarajkumar and Priyamani), Allide Nammane Illirodu Summane, another Shivarajkumar-starrer Operation Golden Gang and a few more. He is also scoring music for a Telugu movie, Kandireega.