Over the Rainbow Bridge

The words Rockstar and Mollywood music director are worlds apart. However, since it’s Sanjeev Thomas we’re talking about, versatility is the name of the game.

The man who started off with city band Rainbow Bridge and went on to play lead guitar for A R Rahman in blockbusters like Endhiran, Ek Deewana Tha and Vinnaithaanda Varuvaaya is gearing up to make his debut as music director. He reveals, “It’s a Malayalam film S and is kind of a mix between a comedy and thriller. “Definitely sounds outside the box from the indie rock and experimental compositions that Sanjeev is known for. The film is being directed by debutant Nikhil K Menon and is the story of a diehard fan who, through a competition, gets the opportunity to spend time with the actor he has been hero worshipping his whole life.

Says Sanjeev, “The whole thing came together after the CCL (Celebrity Cricket League) Kerala theme I composed.” Rubbing shoulders with big stars such as Mohanlal who captained the team, it was only a matter of time before he bumped into actor Saiju Kurup and the film’s director. “They approached me with this script,” he recalls and goes on, “this is a completely commercial film, so it’s going to be quite different from what I’m used to working on.” With two songs already complete, the guitarist-turned-music director reveals that although no dates are out yet for the film’s audio release, the hope is that it will be ready by September.

Incidentally, this is the month that the GIMA awards will take place, in which the musician’s YouTube release, Tanha has been nominated in the category of Pop/Rock single. The soft melody features singer Ujjayinee Roy as well as Sanjeev and his wife and model Suriya Dinkar in the video. “It took about two days to shoot,” he reveals, although the special effects took a while longer. No doubt, the singer is open to trying several new avenues this year.

Will acting in films be on the list soon? “I’ve actually already done a small role,” he smiles. It was a scene that had a rock show in the Mohanlal movie Grandmaster, so it was easy,” he says with a laugh, “I had to play myself.” However, in the future, he adds candidly, “I would definitely like to do some different roles. My friends tell me I’ll make a good villain.”

Having also sung a song in the upcoming Mammootty flick, Thappana, one has to wonder, why so much work in Mollywood all of a sudden? “Well,” he responds, “I think they finally realised that I’m Malayalee.”