Madness en route to Madras

CHENNAI: Shekhar Ravjiani is a man of a few words. So, it came as little surprise that when we asked him what to expect at the Vishal-Shekhar show in Chennai, later this week, he said simply, “Madness”. One half of Bollywood’s most successful music director duo, Shekhar elaborates on the phenomenon that is the ‘Vishal-Shekhar experience’, “Sometimes even we don’t know what we can expect at one of our shows, so absolutely anything can happen.” Performing at IIT-Madras’ cultural extravaganza Saarang is something they’re really looking forward to, says the composer-singer. “We’ve heard so much about the energy and the audience in Chennai that we can’t wait to get there and see for ourselves,” he says and adds as an afterthought, “If they decided to give us some madness, we’d be more than happy to return the favour!”Though this is the first time that they are performing in the city, the duo keep coming down, because of the number of musicians they work with here, “Vishal (Dadlani) has also toured here with his band Pentagram,” says Shekhar.Ever since the duo became a force to reckon with after the release of Jhankaar Beats in 2003, their tally of musical hits has been steadily increasing; whether or not the movie itself ran was besides the point. Recently in the news for their score in Shah Rukh Khan’s magnum opus Ra One, Shekhar says that they’re open to composing music for any film as long as they’re convinced that they can work with the director, “We’ve even done Chintakayala Ravi in Tollywood and the response was phenomenal,” he adds. So, after having ruled the commercial Bollywood roost with Om Shanti Om, Dostana, Dus, The Dirty Picture, Bachna Ae Haseeno, will a foray into Kollywood make sense for them? “Why not? We’re very impressed with some of the smaller, offbeat directors in Chennai and if the right script and director are looking for some good music, we’d be more than happy to do it,” reveals Shekhar.If there’s one thing Shekhar loves about Chennai, it is admittedly, Saravana Bhavan, “I’m a vegetarian, so the minute I step into Chennai, I head straight to Saravanan Bhavan. It’s like a pilgrimage I make each time when we come to record or collaborate with artistes and technicians there,” he says. The second thing on his list: Kumarakom, “I slip out of the Park and head to Kumarakom in (fumbles comically) Kodam-bakk-am. You guys are lucky to have restaurants with such good food at such low costs.” Ironically, the only thing that’s slightly turning off in Chennai is the way they pronounce his name, he says, “Everywhere else I’m Shekhar, but in Chennai (sighs) I’m Se-garu!” At the Saarang pro-show on January 22, it really won’t matter how they call him — the crowd will be way too loud!