Mano Murthy is torn, emotionally but is on a roll, career-wise. It’s like old times because he seems to spend more time with his parents here. “I’ve got used to the travelling but miss my wife and kids,” he says wistfully. The most successful music director is still his humble self. He advanced his visit here by a day to receive the Filmfare award at Hyderabad. His “Cheluvina Chitthara” is a surprise hit and the feedback about the songs in “Mathad Mathad Mallige” is excellent. Did he know that “CC” was a remake? “I agreed to do the film because I loved the Tamil version but I made it clear that the tunes would be original. It’s only later that the director insisted I copy one song. I made sure that Josua Sridher was given due credit in the CDs,” says the principled music director.
Was he disappointed that Yograj Bhat did not sign him for “Gali Pata”? “Well, I was surprised that he would think of someone else, but he’s promised that we’ll work together on his next project.” His tally will be six releases this year. He’s still keen on making a foray into Hindi films. Considering the fact that “Mungaru Maley” songs are a rage among people who don’t know Kannada and that Sonu Nigam makes it a point to sing the title song at every concert Mano Murthy may well become the first Kannada music director to score music for a Hindi film.
Yograj Bhat and ‘Duniya’ Suri have joined hands and started a production company called Suri Talkies. Their first offering will be “Inthi Ninna Preethiya” to be directed by Suri. Srinagar Kitti is the hero while make-up Ramakrishna’s daughter, Sonu will be the heroine. Suri is a little cagey about the subject. “It’s about an ordinary guy who goes through the usual passages of pain and pleasure that we all do,” says the director. “I had to opt for a new face because a star with an image will not be able to do this role. Even if he does his fans may not like it,” says Suri adding an element of mystery to the plot.
Suri was not a part of the team which wrote ‘Gali Pata’ because he feels Yograj’s thinking is a class-oriented while his is more ethereal. Suri has no complaints about his friends’ film winning more awards but feels Satya Hegde should have got the award for cinematography. “I think the Jimmy Gyp deserved the award in ‘MM’ and was the reason why the locations looked spectacular,” says Suri tongue firmly stuck in his cheek. About his next film, “There are a few small problems to be solved but my film is being launched on the 19th of this month.” One only hopes the spark Suri showed in ‘Duniya’ lights up into a resplendent flame.
S. SHIVA KUMAR
sshivu@yahoo.com
