Sangeetha Varma composes song on women’s empowerment

Composer, singer and lyricist Sangeetha Varma sees music as one seamless entity. “All the parts should blend in such a way that the listener experiences it as pure music,” she says. One of the few female music composers from Kerala, Sangeetha considers it a unique experience being able to give words, melody and voice to a song.

Her most recent song for the Malayalam film ‘The Identity’, will be released on March 8, International Women’s Day. The song, ‘Engum Pakaliravil’, written and composed by her is a powerful take on the strength of an “ordinary woman”. The film, written and directed by R Chandra Vadhana, who runs the NGO Prayaana that works towards empowerment of women, urges women, especially homemakers, to wake up and realise their full potential.

Universal theme

“As a woman, I felt close to the theme and it is universal. Every woman would be able to relate to it in some way,” says Sangeetha. The lyrics and the music came to me effortlessly as I was moved by the theme. “I wanted it to convey the idea of a resurgence, of hope,” she adds. Ramadevi Thyagarajan has sung the song.

Sangeetha has composed for the 2013-trilingual film Cleopatra, directed by Rajan Sankaradi, starring Manoj K Jayan, Vineeth and Sudha Chandran. She cherishes the experience as she could direct K J Yesudas and S P Balasubrahmaniam. “Being in the studio with Das Sir in itself was a dream-come-true for me,” she says. “SPB sir sang the song for the Telugu version of the film. He treated me like a daughter and we spoke at length.” In addition to Yesudas and SPB, she has worked with most of the prominent singers in the industry.

Male bastion

Music composition is still largely a male bastion, she says. “In the history of film music, we have had few women as composers. Those days, composers had to spend long hours in studios as recording and orchestration would often run into the wee hours. The environment was unsuitable for most women as they had family responsibilities to take care of,” she says. Today, technology has brought in a huge change to the industry. “Everything is done remotely and in the confines of our own homes. With COVID-19, this even became the norm.” Technology also throws open several platforms for women composers to showcase their talents, she adds.

Sangeetha, who has a post-graduate degree in music from the Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, was initiated into the world of music by her father, Kochappan Thampuran, her first guru. She spent the lockdown days working on songs and would tune songs written by other lyricists. “Being a woman, other women find it easier to communicate with me. I have had many of them come forward with poetry they had written and wished to listen to as songs. Music, ultimately has to bring people together,” she says.