Charan Raj on composing hit tracks in ‘SSE’ and ‘Bheema’: My songs must surprise people

The ace Kannada music composer talks about experimenting in the hit album of ‘Sapta Sagaradaache Ello’ and collaborating with rappers in ‘Bheema’

Following its release on September 1, 2023, the Kannada relationship drama Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side A (SSE Side A) garnered a great response, propelling the film’s protagonist and producer Rakshit Shetty to release the film’s second part, Side B, in multiple languages across the country. While the cast and crew, which involved director Hemanth M Rao and actors Rukmini Vasanth and Chaithra J Achar, basked in the glory, music composer Charan Raj, one of the pillars of the film, was too busy to be in the limelight.

Charan was involved in creating the music of Side B even as he was finishing up two more projects (Bad Manners and Bheema). The shy and soft-spoken composer does all the talking through his music. “All songs were challenging in SSE,“ he says of the huge album that gained widespread love. 

“But I found Kadalanu to be the most challenging,” admits Charan. Sung by Srilakshmi Belmannu and written by Nagarjun Sharma, the simple melody is used briefly in Side A. However, it makes a major presence in the emotionally charged climax of Side B.

“It was the first song we cracked for the film, and the first song of any project is always difficult to produce. I had just finished Salaga (starring Duniya Vijay), and that film had many upbeat numbers. SSE was a different movie, and to get into its mood took some time,” he explains.

Charan conjures a haunting background score in Side B. Director Hemanth uses the score repeatedly in the film to make the drama more intense. “Composing music for Side B was an interesting process. We were all still fresh from the Side A title track. I couldn’t get the tune of Side A title track out of my head. Hemanth wanted another version of it, and he said that the song had to be intense. So the score you hear repeatedly in the movie is a riff taken from the Side B title track.”

The songs of Side A had a strong retro-synth flavour. “Hemanth preferred that genre,” Charan points out. “Before SSE, my second film with Hemanth, Kavaludaari, had strong synthesiser-based music. I like electronic synthesisers a lot. Learning about it has slowly turned into a passion. I keep watching tutorials. I love listening to retro synthesiser music from Aphex Twin and Daft Punk a lot.”

For his upcoming film Bheema, Charan has collaborated with two rappers — Rahul Dit-O and MC Bijju — for a song for the first time. The peppy number Bad Boys has become an Internet sensation. The film, starring and directed by Duniya Vijay, hits the screens on August 9.