Malayalam composers and singers have been on song in Telugu film industry for some time now. Gopi Sundar, Sachin Warrier, Shaan Rahman, Sooraj Santosh and Yazin Nizar are among those who have made their mark. Percussionist Varun Sunil, founder of Masala Coffee, joins that list of talented musicians. He has composed for Rajdooth, launch vehicle of Meghamsh Srihari, son of veteran actor Srihari and dancer-actor ‘Disco’ Shanti. Directed by Dasari Carthyk and Arjun, the movie releases on July 5.
That’s not all. Crooning the songs are well-known names from the Malayalam music industry. ‘Manasuna’, a breezy number, has been sung by Sidharth Menon, actor and former member of Thaikkudam Bridge. ‘Chustune Unna’, a foot-tapping number has been rendered by Varun and Sooraj Santhosh, lead singer of Masala Coffee who also has many Telugu films to his credit. Anish Krishnan, a vocalist of Thaikkudam Bridge band, is the other singer.
Varun Sunil | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
“I spent a lot of time to get the pronunciation correct. The storyline has a road trip, with romance and humour thrown in,” says Mumbai-based Varun. This is Varun’s first independent film project, although Masala Coffee has composed for films in Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada.
Rhythm has been part of his life since childhood. “There has always been music in my family and I had an inclination for percussion,” he says. Trained in mridangam from the age of four, he now plays the cajon, darbuka, conga, udupot, and djembe among others. “When I was young, I used to watch Pancharimelam at temple festivals in Ernakulam and Tripunithura. It was a delight to watch legends such as Pallavur Appu Marar and Peruvanam Kuttan Marar in action. Inspired by them, I played the chenda for a few years,” he says.
Once he decided to take up music as his career, he did a course in Audio Recording Arts and Music Production from Chetana Studio in Thrissur and moved to Chennai in search of opportunities.
- Varun has played with artistes such as Louis Banks, Ustad Fazal Qureshi, Taufiq Qureshi, Kavitha Seth, George Brooks, Sunita Bhuyan, Leslie Lewis, Ranjit Barot, Pandit Viswa Mohan Bhatt, Vikku Vinayakram, Vidya Vox and Shankar Tucker. “It was exciting to collaborate with the qawwali group led by Rizwan and Muazzam, nephews of legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.” He also worked with Guru Randhawa and Bryden-Parth in MTV Unplugged this season.
- Masala Coffee has composed songs in Hello Namaste, Solo, Uriyadi, Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal and Mundina Nildana.
He began by composing for television commercials. “I was offered my first movie then. But it was shelved. However, soon, I was doing shows with Stephen Devassy,” he says.
It was singer Hariharan who advised him to move to Mumbai. “I did an unplugged session with him. I was very nervous about sharing the stage with such an experienced artiste. But I think he was impressed by my work, especially when I played a portion from Colonial Cousins. He told me, ‘I think Bombay [Mumbai] will work better for you’. So I decided to give it a try,” says Varun.
That was the turning point in his career. He went on to jam and collaborate with leading musicians in Mumbai. “What worked to my advantage was that I was a featured artiste and not a backing artiste. Often, percussionists don’t get that opportunity,” says the 32-year-old. In between, he formed Masala Coffee with his group of friends.
Big break
He is looking forward to his independent album with Sony Music India. The first music video will be released in August, followed by an instrumental number, ‘Whispering Hues’, featuring Rajhesh Vaidya.
“In future, I want to do projects in Hindi. My ambition has always been to collaborate with internationally-acclaimed musicians rather than become a celebrity artiste. But I have realised that it is important to do commercial projects so that people take notice of your indie projects,” he says.
His forthcoming projects include a song in the Tamil film, Unarvugal Thodarkadhai. “I am also in talks with another big banner in Tamil. Meanwhile, my Malayalam project will be announced soon,” he says.