I view myself as a global composer balancing H’wood and Indian cinema: Prateek

Composer and record producer Prateek Rajagopal, who has Tamil and Malayali roots, stepped into the Indian film space with Bejoy Nambiar’s Tu Yaa Main . During his recent visit to the city, he talks to us about his Hollywood beginnings, composing for his debut film and how his longtime friend, actor Adarsh Gourav played a role in bringing him on board both projects.‘MY DAD WOULD PLAY ILAIYARAAJA AND ARR’S MUSIC ALL THE TIME’I’ve been familiar with the music scene here and I’m genuinely interested in doing a project. When I was growing up, my dad would play Ilaiyaraaja and ARR’s music all the time. For me, ARR is among the top three composers of all time. His music feels transcendental, and there’s a mystery to a lot of his work. Raaja is from a generation that I’m more familiar with through my parents. But I’m mesmerised by his music.‘I assisted Ludwig Göransson and Joseph Shirley for Star Wars: The Mandalorian’For the last six-and-a-half years, I’ve been working in Hollywood. After I graduated from USC, I started to work in the industry, assisting Ludwig Göransson and Joseph Shirley as they were working on Star Wars: The Mandalorian , The Book of Boba Fett and other projects. I got a front-row seat to see how they work. They are at the top of the game. The other people who worked with them are now my best friends.‘THE HINDI FILM INDUSTRY IS MORE SONG-DOMINATED; BACKGROUND SCORE IS APPRECIATED MORE IN THE SOUTH’In the South, a background score is appreciated a lot more, while the Hindi film industry is more song-dominated. They build the score themes from the songs. But I made sure that in Tu Yaa Main , the score felt different from the songs, and I wanted it to stand out. It’s really good that in India, you’ve a single music director who can have control over the songs and scores. There’s cohesion. Whereas there’s a little bit of a separation in Hollywood. Over there, they’ll bring five songs from different artistes and then license their music. They very rarely make them write custom songs for the movie. ‘I SCORED SO MUCH MUSIC FOR TU YAA MAIN BEFORE I SAW A SINGLE FRAME OF THE FILM’Adarsh Gourav and I have been friends for years. We went to college together in Mumbai. Without telling me, he has been sending my info around. He recommended me for both of his films ( Yu Yaa Main and Birthday ). I was in LA when Bejoy reached out, told me what he was looking for and asked me to send some music. I scored so much music for Tu Yaa Main before I saw a single frame of the film. And he liked all of it.‘YOU GIVE FILMMAKERS WHAT THEY WANT, BUT DECORATE IT WITH WHAT YOU LIKE’One of the most important skills in this industry is being a people person. You need to know how to interact and share ideas. Filmmakers have been contemplating their movie for years, and you’re coming in later. So, you’ve got to allow them the space to express themselves, and you’ve got to find a way of interpreting it. You give them what they want, but decorate it with what you like. Even if there are egos, don’t take it personally because everyone’s working in high-stress environments, and there’s a lot of money on the line.‘My first Telugu movie will have experimental music’I’m working on my first Telugu movie, Birthday . It’s by a first-time director, Baba Shashank. Adarsh Gourav plays the protagonist. The music will be experimental. It goes between genres, from metal to orchestral to electronic and everything in between. It’s not difficult to compose when you don’t know the language. Music is my first love, and movies are a medium for me to explore it further.