29|12|2017

Imagine you’re in a movie theater and a song comes on, do any of us stop to think about the person who sang the song?

Do we ever wonder how they brought the song to life?

How they emote?

How they make us feel all these different emotions with the way they voice the song?   

This is where the idea for this conceptual photo (reinvention) shoot arose.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet R in a number of occasions earlier, but this year there was a gateway to build a professional rapport with him and sometime in September we thought we will do this “Photo-shoot”. I was surprised when he chose to do with bunch of newcomers; at least in my case the word newcomer was pretty precise. We decided to take inspiration from his songs – SONGS?? There were so many. He gave me total control(?) to choose songs that I felt would be best.

Versatility has always been Ranjith’s strong suit. So in order to match with his personality and style decided to select a variety of songs(Whichever google showed as his biggest hits) from various languages, all songs sung by him of-course. Let me tell you, it was not easy to choose just 6 – I understood why he took a step back while choosing the songs😁.  Anyway, we had few locations and ideas in mind once we decided on the songs. So, why not pay homage to these songs and depict it with some visuals but instead of the actor, Ranjith himself? This way we get to see him live the song, in a live setting and not just in a studio. In simpler terms, recreate or reinvent the song with the voice that brought it to life is பின்னணி – PINNANI all about!

Amma ledu Nanna ledu

is one of Ranjith’s biggest hits in Telugu. This song was composed by his “God-Father” Mani Sharma garu for a movie called Ek-Nirajan ft. Prabhas and Kangana Ranaut directed by Puri Jagannath. You can see the gratitude he owes to his composer the moment you ask him about this song. He said he can’t thank his godfather enough – for taking care of him like his own son and giving him the opportunity to sing all those songs for him. A unique lazy song which talks about all problems in the hero’s life, actually became a benchmark in Ranjith’s career. As we decided to have this song as one of our inspirations, this beautiful location flashed in our minds – A busy garage named Trans Modelz in Arumbakkam. The rustic beauty and tone of these old walls highly reminded us about the movie in some way.  The shoot started in a normal way posing etc, but once Ranjith started singing for those people(Mechanic anna’s) at the garage it turned out to be a mini concert.  We hardly have shots of him posing here at this location, he kept singing and the photographer just had to move him here and there.  Reminds me of something Ranjith said during one of our conversations, “I love singing irrespective of when and where. It’s even more exciting when people around you log into your vibe. You get to share with them the joy that you experience. Music is something that has no boundaries – it is all about getting connected, you don’t have to understand what it is, but feel something”.  And that’s exactly what we were trying to get there anyway – to shoot a performer who loves to perform anywhere and anytime for people who connect with him. Let’s just say I was lucky to travel with him and hear him sing all the time.

A huge shout out to Mr.Osman Abdul Razak(Mr. Perfectionist we would say), Priya and his entire team who helped us every step of the way with much enthusiasm. We all loved the way Ranjith looked in Osman’s finest Silver modern fit wool trousers & White mandarin collared shirt. Osman is a Savile Row certified bespoke tailor & menswear influencer, continuing the club class legacy of his brand gabbana.life to his label OAR now. You can just feel the passion he has put in the making of his store, when you are there to check his suits hanging on those shelves so elegantly.  #DapperDa is definitely a club class swag!

If someone asks about grooming, I am sure Ranjith will have a lot to contribute. Thanks to Shakthi from Vurve Salon who took care of Ranjith’s hair and makeup in locations as well as in the studio. He was there with us for 2 consecutive days. That was all possible because of Mr. Manoj – who owns Vurve salon, another passionate business man whom we enjoyed working with! 

click here to check the song from the movie.

SONG CREDITS : Movie – EK Niranjan | Composer – Mani Sharma | Lyrics – Ramajogayya Sastry

Will share more stories from the series and memories he has with the songs we’ve chosen for Pinnani in coming up days, till then you can check more photos on all his social media handles – instagram, facebook & twitter !

Cheers!

7|1|2018

Presenting you all the next photo from the series பின்னணி(Pinnani). Unlike the previous one(which had so many photos) we have only one photo for this song “Jingunamani” from a Tamil Movie called Jilla featuring Lalettan, Vijay and Kajal Agarwal directed by R.T. Neason. It is one of Ranjith’s biggest hits in Tamil composed by Mr.D.Imman. 

Being known for all experimental and high energy songs – Ranjith himself says, it was a great experience singing the song, actually.. it was challenging to match up to the energy levels of  Sunidhi Chauhan! True, it is a high energy party song which is played at all concerts and gatherings till date. And to be honest, getting a photo for this particular song was very difficult; we were still discussing as Ranjith was getting his hair done. Had he been an actor, he could’ve just posed with any set of fancy clothes, but he is a singer and that’s where we got the cue anyway and decided to have two Ranjiths in a single frame. Why..? Because you can’t label this person with one genre – he can sing pakka mass Jingunamani, thara local Rocket Raja as well as soulful mazhaye mazhaye or soothing Solitale behind the mic AND at the same time he can rock any kind of song when he has to perform with footlights – yes, not just a singer, also a thespian when it comes to live performance! Talking about this project to a friend of mine who also happens to be a musician, he mentioned that R not just sings different genres, most of the songs that he has sung will have extraordinary musicals portions, not everyone can deliver different genres with those musical aspects! Hmmmm.. you can imagine how proud I would’ve felt talking about this project to him after that? 

Ranjith no.1

Wearing Osman’s Lotus pond inspired, hand-embroidered blue bandhgala, can’t thank Priya enough who constantly recommended this set for this particular song – Priya this one is for you! Mr.Osman once again thank you for those perfect stitches, and the little details you’ve added. Not to mention, the way he takes care of his fabrics is what sets him apart(those silver trousers though!!)

Ranjith no. 2

Wearing a red worked Bandi by VK complementing the Kurtha we got custom made for R.

Also, on noticing closely you’ll be able to spot the mild variation in the looks, which was wonderfully done by Sakthi, makeup and hair stylist from Vurve Salon – who actually witnessed the mayhem that went down during the shoot. He stayed calm, patient and understood our needs and catered to it proving that he was an absolute professional.

Click here for Jingunamani song link!

SONG CREDITS : Movie – Jilla | Composer – D. Imman | Lyrics – Viveka

And that’s all for now!

Stay tuned for R’s next release and yeah.. wishing you all a wonderful 2018!

Cheers!

15|01|2018

Looks like “Oru Venal Puzhayil” – song from a movie called Pranayakalam is one of R’s biggest hits in Malayalam. It was a soothing romantic number – I got that much! I’m neither a Malayali(always a big fan of the language though) nor someone who speaks Malayalam, so the first friend I turned to was google translate, but I figured I needed to get a public opinion about this song. I called a couple of my Mallu friends who knew the language, to give me some insight, and it so turns out that this one is everyone’s favorite there. As it is in his native and also for a fact that it was composed by Mr. Ouseppachan himself, was not surprised to know that this is one of those many songs R holds close to his heart. “I still remember the joy that filled my heart when I started performing the song in the studio. The very marriage between the tune & the lyrics blew my mind”  says Ranjith.

More than to recreate the song, bringing out the feel of God’s own country was our true intention for this particular song. Our photographers found a beautiful spread of paddy fields near Kanchipuram district which felt true to the feel. The whole trip to Kanchipuram and waiting for the dawn was an experience. Our photographers had a real struggle to just position their lights because of those slimy soil and I still remember how R was singing this song as he walked along the fields for pictures. In fact this was the first song we shot for #pinnani and this trip really helped us understand the thought process amongst our team.

Hope you guys like this Naadan Ranjith walking along the paddy fields early in the morning!

click here to check out the song!

SONG CREDITS : Movie – Pranayakalam | Composer – Ouseppachan | Lyrics – Rafeeq Ahammed

Needless to say this song is now my favorite too. More to come from பின்னணி(Pinnani) – stay connected. 

Cheers!

20|01|2018

How can we not have the song “My love is Gone” in this series. This one is another breakthrough song for Ranjith in the music industry.  The song was composed by rockstar Devi Sri Prasad,  for a telugu movie called Arya 2 featuring Allu Arjun and Kajal Agarwal. The music video takes place in a pub setting after Allu Arjun’s character goes through a breakup – intense and heavy is how I would describe this song. Talking about the song R says, “The challenge in this song was to match Devi’s power. He is forever high on life & it was great fun to borrow some of his energy while recording this song.. The song needed it! ”

When we decided to take this song as an inspiration, we thought why not click pictures in a club? Sincere thanks to Mr. Maxwell (Manager), Gatsby – Crowne Plaza, Chennai for letting us shoot on a Friday night just before the crowd hits. Although we had a very little time to shoot here at this busy location, our photographers managed to get all the best possible shots, and not to forget, they had to do it in those low lights, because as I already mentioned the dance floor was not lit yet and ofcourse we had to wrap before they did!

Wearing Osman’s Blue color-blocked, notch lapel jacket with a classic black shirt, Ranjith stood out classy and sassy posing for the pictures.

Click here to watch/listen to the song.

SONG CREDITS : Movie – Arya -2 | Composer – DeviSri Prasad | Lyrics – Chandrabose

Until the next release, Cheers!

30/01/2018

Choosing only two songs in each language wasn’t easy, but choosing Vilayadu Mangatha was the easiest choice to make, a quintessential Yuvan composition for the movie Mangatha. Ranjith reminisce that, he would’ve sung most of his songs in Tamil for Yuvan. “I just loved singing this song and I make sure to perform this on every stage whether it be a college festival or a concert, because the entire musical arrangement has so much Yuvan swag to it. I even have my own rock version of this song to perform on stage”, says Ranjith.

The inspiration for this set of the shoot was a no-brainer. Our main prop was playing cards. Only difference was, instead of playing the game we were tossing it around for the shoot. R was clearly having too much fun throwing the cards around. After every single throw, he would jump off the dais just to check the output with Nimalan  and  he woud see only to see through the viewfinder lens😁, like literally after every single throw(I don’t remember how long we were doing it, but at a certain point we realized we had to stop it) And overall shooting this one was just a lot of fun!

Initially wanted to give Ranjith the perfect casino look but ended up giving a versatile gangster look with Green velvet Tuxedo jacket and classic black shirt without any bow just to associate more with the movie and feel of the song – yet another stellar piece from gabbana.life by Osman Abdul Razak!

And the hair and makeup magic is again by Sakthi from Vurve salon. And our photographers asked Ranjith to sport some classic shots for the song!

Tap here to check Thala grooving for this song!

SONG CREDITS : Movie – Mangatha | Composer – Yuvan Shankar Raja | Lyrics – Gangai Amaran

Pinnani is not over yet – in fact can’t wait for you guys to see the next one from the series. But yeah, got to wait!

Till then, Cheers!

14|02|2018

Yaayy… How can a photo series be complete without a Malayali not wearing his Mund Veshti? There is no point contemplating whether to go with any lungi or dhoti’s, when you know he has sung that mellifluous song in Premam! Yes, Chinna Chinna from the movie Premam was yet another song we couldn’t resist but take inspiration from. The movie as such is iconic and the songs are registered in everyone’s mind along with the visuals because of the college romance delineated by Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi. It will be a sin even to touch the feel of the song, so to justify such an iconic song, we really wanted a nice ambiance for the shoot. Alphonse had set a benchmark with his direction!

Location: For this one R suggested we check out Pachaiyappas, as it is an iconic college and it will definitely have that feel we were after and indeed it did. One of the oldest educational institutions in Tamil Nadu(175 years old), it was a great pleasure to have been able to shoot at this prestigious institution. Thanks to Trustee Mr.Hemanath, also to Superintendent, and the college principal for graciously letting us shoot at their iconic college. The old walls with rain water deposits from the previous day downpour perfectly complemented the feel of God’s own country.

Also, while sincerely acknowledging Sameera Saneesh for setting up the Veshti Swag with that black shirt (major Premam reference). I would like to thank Nicobar design studio for their Soft – linen Black Nawab shirt. If you’re in Nungambakkam just check their store, leaving at this to experience the visit!

Coming to the song itself, Ranjith gave me a little insight on what went down behind the scenes. Looks like initially they had a plan to feature one singer in all the songs of the movie and the singers had to try out all the songs composed. But in the end, the platter we were served had a mix of iconic voices. To quote a few, one of the biggest hits from the movie was sung by Vijay yesudas(Malare), Rockankutthu – the dance number actually one more tamil song in this album was sung by rockstar Anirudh, and hey – how can we forget Aluva Puzhaye theerathu by our very own Vineeth sreenivasan. A decision which turned every song in the album unique and iconic.

Ok, have you got the irony here yet? See, we shot such a stunning  romantic number, in an iconic boys’ college – Pachaiyappas. We never understood the numbers painted with sections in the floor, we didn’t have time to ask the people there either, so if anyone reading this know what it is, please do let us know. Cheers! 

Click here to watch the song!

SONG CREDITS : Movie – Premam | Composer – Rajesh Murugesan | Lyrics – Pradeep Palar

Cheers, till the next one!

06|04|2018

“Do you really think we should recreate the look, I don’t think I should do this da” said Ranjith(for once).

Every other concept had its own flavor and reason for him to connect with – But this one? He was not sure for some reason! He was Ok with experimenting not recreating the entire look inspired by Raju Bhai.  What else to do when the photographers have spotted a terrific subway and you know this man is the one who has sung Bang Bang Bang.  But he stayed committed to the project and did not disappoint us when we requested to do this – and needless to say he just slayed this look.

Yet another Yuvan Shankar Raja’s musical, bang bang bang – we chose this song breaking the rule of shooting only two songs per language. (After all rules are meant to break!!! )

Sincere thanks to Sakthi from Vurve Salon for the perfect hair do, We were all so excited to see Ranjith this way! How about you guys?

Click here to hear & watch the song!

SONG CREDITS : Movie – Anjaan | Composer – Yuvan Shankar Raja | Lyrics – Madhan Karky

Next one? May be… Till then, Cheers!

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