In the world of cinema, very few singers have made it as music composers. Jeeva Varshini, with just about two dozen film songs to her credit, achieved this rare feat by scoring music to two Telugu movies simultaneously besides composing music for a Tamil movie.
Interestingly, this Telugu girl made her debut as a singer with the Tamil movie, Iyakkunar under the baton of music director ‘Shankar’ Ganesh.
“I am indebted to Ganesh ji, my mentor in this field. I sang five songs in Iyakkunar and replicated them when it was dubbed into Telugu ( Nirdesakudu ) and Hindi ( Don Director ). I also sang for him in Murattu Payale and Kattumalai Roja . Then I started getting offers from other music directors in Tamil. The song, ‘ pudhu malare… ’ under the baton of veteran composer Deva in Theenda Theenda won much appreciation for me,’ she said.
At a time when she was aiming to make her grade as a playback singer in Telugu films too, fortune smiled on her with the plum role of a music composer. “I was on cloud nine when producer L.M. Raju and director Krishna Teja offered me to compose music for their film, Suri vs. Varalakshmi . Ganesh ji encouraged me to take up the challenge. The producer and the director liked my songs and signed me for their next project, Naari Naari Sri Murari starring Sri and Naresh in main roles. Both these movies are due for release soon,” said Jeeva Varshini with a twinkle in her eyes.
She is also debuting in Tamil as a composer with Aarulirundi Aaruvarai . “It is produced by actor-producer Rishi Raj and directed by Srihari with Jai Akash and Saron in lead roles.”
Jeeva Varshini hails from Uggampalli near Warangal and her grandfather Chakravarthula Peethambara Sastry was a Carnatic musician.
“He was my mother’s maternal uncle and I learnt music from him,” says the up-and-coming music composer. After her marriage with Komanduri Ranganath a television serial producer, she came to Chennai. Her husband encouraged her to pursue a career in singing and family friend and music director Ganesh lent her support.
“I started with stage shows and once I sang an S. Janaki number, Chinnamjiruye varnaparavai in the presences of the legendary singer. Janaki liked it so much that she came on to the stage and hugged me. That was the best compliment I have ever received,” said Varshini. She says she learnt how to modulate one’s voice by listening to S.P. Balasubrahmanyam’s songs.
“You know there is one thing common between me and music wizard A. R. Rahman,” she breaks into a hearty laugh before completing the sentence.
“We went to the same numerologist, Sri Om Ulaganathan for a name change. If Dilip became A. R. Rahman, Sridevi became a Jeeva Varshini. And I landed with the plum job of composing music for films. Hope I will be able to impress the film music lovers too,” she signs off on that optimistic note.
