Devi Sri Prasad: ‘Whenever I meet Kamal Haasan sir, he hums Srivalli song’

“As artistes, we never work expecting the result. I don’t work like that at all because then the work frame is disturbed. We just put our heart and soul into it,” the composer told PTI.

Directed by Sukumar, Pushpa: The Rise featured Allu Arjun in the titular role. The film emerged as a nationwide blockbuster and helped Arjun win his maiden best actor National Film Award along with DSP being honoured in the best music director category. The composer and Arjun received their National Awards in a ceremony in New Delhi earlier this week.

“We knew that we were making something really good in terms of the film, the music, the lyrics. How Sukumar sir was making the film and Allu Arjun was getting into the skin of the character, we knew that we were doing all the right things,” DSP said.

The soundtrack of the Telugu movie became a party hit with numbers “Srivalli”, “Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava” and “Saami Saami” topping the charts.

Even the top stars of the Indian film industry loved the music so much that now whenever Kamal Haasan meets DSP, the veteran star greets him by “humming a few lines of Srivalli”.

“Whenever I meet Kamal Haasan sir, he hums Srivalli song. He loves it, he sings it. We know that he is an amazing singer,” the music director said, adding that the Vikram star was one of the firsts to call and congratulate him on the National Award win.

Haasan also put a lengthy tweet praising DSP for his work on the film.

“That made me so happy. I got a call from Chiranjeevi sir, Suriya sir, Prabhu Deva sir, so that in itself was an award for me. They all congratulated me and said, ‘you deserve it’. It was an award in itself as their words matter a lot to me,” he added.

புஷ்பா திரைப்படத்திற்காக சிறந்த பாடல் இசைக்கான தேசிய விருது பெற்றுள்ள அன்பு இளவல் @ThisIsDSP அவர்களுக்கு என் மனமார்ந்த வாழ்த்துகளும் பாராட்டுகளும் உரித்தாகுக! #NationalFilmAwards2023

— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) August 24, 2023

The film’s songs also found a huge audience in the music industry with many creating their own versions. DSP said he enjoyed the covers and versions of his songs, but the most favourite one was by music icon Usha Uthup, who sang the Bengali version of “Srivalli” and “Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava”.

“There were millions of versions that people made. I loved them. It is hard to remember how many we saw, but there were so many of them… One version I can’t forget is from the icon Usha Uthup ma’am. She made the Bengali version of ‘Srivalli’ and ‘Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava’… She is a legend. She getting inspired by our song and making a version of it is something that I feel honoured about.”

Detailing the process behind creating the album for the action-drama movie, the 44-year-old composer said it took them two-three days to create three songs, including “Srivalli”. But incorporating a romantic song in a movie about a “tough guy” required some convincing.

“There was a discussion, ‘How can we have romantic lyrics for a tough guy?’ I was like, ‘Tough guy also always falls in love at least once.’ Then we came up with this beautiful concept, and Chandrabose sir gave amazing lyrics.”

DSP believes music has always been integral to Indian cinema and will continue to do so.

“India celebrates music. Even in films, music and dance is so important and it will never go away, because that’s what excites the audience. There was a dip in between because people were cutting down the length of the songs, or number of songs, etc. But after lockdown, songs are bringing joy to people, and every film today has five to six songs,” he said.

The composer’s upcoming projects include Suriya’s Kanguva and Pushpa: The Rule.

Asked whether there is any kind of pressure for the sequel now that he has won the National Award for the first part, DSP said, “No. I never feel the pressure. I believe if you feel the pressure then you won’t be able to work, and give your 100 percent. Music is meant to remove pressure from people’s lives. So, I always enjoy music and I’m playful in my studios.”