{"id":792350,"date":"2026-07-10T07:44:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/792350\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T07:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:44:21","slug":"i-dont-want-people-to-expect-another-rrr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/792350\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I Don’t Want People To Expect Another RRR’"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘I am aware that my time is running out, and there’s so much to do.’<\/p>\n

\"NTR<\/p>\n

IMAGE: NTR Jr and Ram Charan in the song Naatu Naatu from RRR.<\/p>\n

Key Points<\/p>\n

M M Keeravani, who turned 65 on July 4, has launched a YouTube channel to promote new talent with experimental music videos and short films.
\nHe shares a strong rapport with his cousin, Director S S Rajamouli, with whom he can communicate musical requirements through ‘sign language’.
\nKeeravani credits Ram Gopal Varma’s film Kshanam Kshanam for giving him recognition and kickstarting his independent career.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oscar-winning Composer M M Keeravani celebrated his 65th birthday on July 4, and took the moment to look back at his journey.<\/p>\n

“I know expectations are very high (for S S Rajamouli’s Varanasi). I don’t want people to expect another RRR. This is another universe… Doing the same thing just because it worked is creative inertia. And that’s like death to me,” Keeravani tells Subhash K Jha.<\/p>\n

‘We have to seek new voices in the wilderness’<\/p>\n

\"Sridevi<\/p>\n

IMAGE: Sridevi and Venkatesh Daggubati in Kshana Kshanam.<\/p>\n

You recently turned 65. How do you intend to rejuvenate your creative forces?<\/p>\n

I have started my own YouTube channel to promote new talent with experimental music videos and short films.<\/p>\n

I am convinced that the future belongs to young talent. We cannot keep clinging to the past, glorious as it was. We have to seek new voices in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

What does one more year of your life mean to you?<\/p>\n

It means creeping closer to the closure. I am aware that my time is running out, and there’s so much to do.<\/p>\n

‘You can’t ever be repetitive’<\/p>\n

\"Priyanka<\/p>\n

IMAGE: Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran at the Varanasi teaser launch in Hyderabad. Photograph: Panna Bandekar<\/p>\n

Miles and miles to go before you sleep?<\/p>\n

I don’t know about that. But I believe every day, every opportunity that comes my way to express myself is godsent. Never take anything for granted.<\/p>\n

S S Rajamouli’s Varanasi is coming up, after RRR.<\/p>\n

I know expectations are very high. I don’t want people to expect another RRR. This is another universe. Besides, you can’t ever be repetitive.<\/p>\n

Doing the same thing just because it worked is creative inertia. And that’s like death to me.<\/p>\n

‘I am nowhere near Shankar-Jaikishan or S D Burman’<\/p>\n

\"Bipasha<\/p>\n

IMAGE: Bipasha Basu and John Abraham in Jism.<\/p>\n

What is the secret formula for your remarkable rapport with Rajamouli?<\/p>\n

Do you know we are cousins? He is the only son of my father’s youngest brother Vijayendra Prasad (who wrote the Baahubali movies).<\/p>\n

Rajamouli and I have worked together in several films. By now, we can communicate about his musical requirements by sign language.<\/p>\n

Like Raj Kapoor and Shankar-Jaikishan?<\/p>\n

That’s putting too much pressure on me. I am nowhere near Shankar-Jaikishan or S D Burman.<\/p>\n

Which are the scores in Hindi you are really proud of?<\/p>\n

My own favourite movie soundtracks are Jism, Sur, Zakhm, Paheli and Special Chabbis for the songs, and the Baahubali series, RRR and Varanasi for the background music.<\/p>\n

But I’d rather speak about others than myself. My favourite composers and singers keep changing from time to time.<\/p>\n

‘My career could have finished if it wasn’t for Ram Gopal Varma’<\/p>\n

\"Sridevi,<\/p>\n

IMAGE: Sridevi, Ram Gopal Varma, and Venkatesh Daggubati on the sets of Kshana Kshanam (1991). Photograph: Kind courtesy RGV\/X<\/p>\n

Tell us about your beginnings.<\/p>\n

I started as an assistant to the great K Chakravarthy sir. I’ve been composing for almost 40 years.<\/p>\n

My first independent film soundtrack was never released. My career could have finished then and there, if it wasn’t for Ram Gopal Varma.<\/p>\n

How did RGV come into the picture?<\/p>\n

It was Ram Gopal Varma’s Kshana Kshanam which got me recognition.<\/p>\n

‘We had foreigners dancing to my Naatu Naatu without understanding a word’<\/p>\n

\"Shaan<\/p>\n

IMAGE: Shaan and M M Keeravani. Photograph: Kind courtesy MM Keeravani\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Who are the musicians who have impressed and inspired you?<\/p>\n

My all time favourite singers are Frank Sinatra, Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. One by one, all the greats are gone.<\/p>\n

You have worked in Hindi. Was language a problem?<\/p>\n

I may not be fluent in Hindi, but I understand the language well enough. The language of music is universal.<\/p>\n

We had foreigners dancing to my Naatu Naatu without understanding a word.<\/p>\n

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas\/Rediff<\/p>\n

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