In an interview with film critic Rajeev Masand, music composer Amit Trivedi talked about an album that had a life-changing impact on him: AR Rahman’s Thiruda Thiruda. The composer, who has always been vocal about his admiration for the Oscar-winning composer, said that the album had a huge influence on him during his teenage days, and that it continues to inspire him. “That was in 1992, when I was in school…I was awestruck by the kind of music he had done for the film,” he said. “Thiruda Thiruda still does to me what it did to me (then),” he added.
Amit Trivedi, who won a national award for his debut film Dev D, is best known for his soulful tracks in Lootera, as well as his novel style of music in Dev D, Aisha and Ishaqzaade.
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Thiruda Thiruda, directed by Mani Ratnam, is about two lowly thieves (Prashanth and Anand) who accidentally get involved in a high-profile bank heist. The film’s audio album has eight songs, and is regarded as one of Rahman’s best works. Most of the songs were sung by relatively unknown vocalists, and Rahman brought distinct sound and style experimentation into Indian cinema. The song Thee Thee was sung by Chinese singer Caroline, and the a capella song Rasathi was sung by the late Shahul Hameed. The tune of the song Veera Pandi Kottayile inspired a famous political slogan in Malayalam.
“I bought an audio cassette of the Hindi version of the album and used to listen to it day and night,” said Trivedi in the interview. He added, “It inspires me and it makes me think ‘how can someone think like this – the way it was arranged and composed.”
Watch the full interview here: