“Do you know that sambar is originally not a Tamil food?” Sean Roldan asks suddenly, slightly drifting away from our conversation about modern relationships, gender roles and love for cricket. He says, “It was a dish introduced by the Marathas when they came down south. We modified it and made it our sambar. Such is the Tamil culture; it embraces and absorbs different practices and makes those a part of it. Addressing this all-encompassing nature of the Tamil language is one of the aspects of Coke Studio Tamil season 2.”
While the theme of the first season was ‘Idhu Namma Isai’, the second season is all about feelings, titled ‘Idhu Semma Vibe’. He says, “Last year, we wanted to show what Tamil music is in Tamil Nadu. Now, we want to show what Tamil music is to the world and how widespread it is. The language is spread across different countries and has taken new forms. For instance, having grown up in the UK, singer Yanchan’s understanding of the Tamil language is also influenced by his culture. So, we want to bring all of those different expressions and experiences under one umbrella.”
Sean has been the curator of both seasons for Coke Studio Tamil. Besides composing a few scores, the music director brainstorms ideas for each song and chooses artists to collaborate with. Each season has around 6-8 songs. It is different from how it works in films, Sean tells us. “The film has its own challenges because the story has different complications. Sometimes, there are mostly template situations for a film’s playlist. It is different here because you are creating a story.”
The story format in season two focuses on understanding the complexities of modern life and the Tamil language. Take Coke Studio’s first song this season, ‘Kaakarattan’, for instance. Composed by GV Prakash Kumar, the song portrays how two girls from different backgrounds celebrate Pongal. It also explores how the Pongal celebrations and practices in a village lend a new perspective for someone from the city, says Sean. “Likewise, my song with Aditi Rao Hydari, ‘Please Purunjiko’ is about a couple where the man wants them to stay together even if they live in a small town whereas the woman is full of dreams and wants to explore the world. The roles would usually be reversed in our society. It’s slowly changing and we wanted to challenge that old structure. I like Vignesh Shivn’s lyrics and I approached him to write this song. In the number, the man sings, “Sernthu uyaram yeralaam, edhayum onna thaandalaam. (Let’s climb and overcome anything together)” And she replies, “Naanaaga yeri vitta thallaada thevai illai. (But if I climb by myself, I would not lose balance).” The woman doesn’t want him to sacrifice anything for her; she wants independence and she wants to chase her goals. In modern relationships, this is a very challenging aspect.” Some of the songs that are yet to be released in season 2 too deal with similar concepts like modern friendships, marriage, etc.
The coexistence of contrasting elements has been a prominent feature in the productions of Coke Studio. So besides the contrasting perspectives in the stories, there is also a certain pattern of artists with different styles coming together. “A lot of people know Aditi as someone who sings good melody songs but for ‘Please Purunjiko’, she sings in her base voice and it was a surprise for many. But I know about her because I have interacted a lot with her. When you put our voices together, since mine is rustic and hers is sweet, the contrast works well,” Sean says.
Even before the songs are recorded, Sean ensures that all artists meet, ideate and communicate with each other. As someone who always stresses the importance of human interactions and friendships, he says that such personal rapports between the artists lend a certain originality to a song. “I vibe with both Vijay Sethupathi and Arunraja Kamaraj. I have known them from the time Vijay Sethupathi did Pizza. I know these individuals very differently than how the world sees them and I wanted to show that side of them. So I convinced them that this collaboration for ‘Roar-a Yethu’ will work.”
‘Roar-a Yethu’, a CSK-IPL anthem of sorts is a song about passion. “It’s often assumed that Indians are more spiritual than materialistic. So apart from movie songs, a lot of other poetry and songs are more about philosophy than passion. On the other hand, we talk a lot about dispassion, sacrifice, etc. Why should philosophies talk about dispassion? So we wanted a song about passion, something about the fire in us,” says Sean. When they pitched this idea to Coke Studio, they suggested it could be a song about cricket and CSK as it is something people from different walks of life are passionate about.
Like ‘Roar-a Yethu’, most songs in Coke Studio Tamil flow like a conversation. Explaining this, Sean hums a tune and says it’s not a song in this form; it becomes a song only when lyrics are added to it. “Lyrics aren’t words, it’s also music. Be it Lover or Good Night, the lyrics in my songs will be direct and simple. But that doesn’t make it any lesser. Kavithai na vaarthai jaalam illa. The lyrics can be simple but still have a lot of meaning and depth. In ‘Please Purunjiko’, Vignesh Shivn wrote these lines, “Kan thorakum neram, kaigal ettum dhooram, kaalatha unoda naan pokanum.” The meaning is that the man says he wants to live with his lover forever and the distance should be a comfortable one; one where his woman isn’t very far. It’s simple but there is poetry in this, right?”
Speaking about his process of collaborating with different people for Coke Studio, ranging from upcoming artists and folk singers to actors and several others, Sean says, “Some people we collaborate with aren’t even Tamil-speaking. For example, Aditi finds it difficult to speak Tamil but she likes the language a lot. Avangaluku adhu mela oru patru iruku. We try to collaborate with anyone who finds joy in expressing themselves in Tamil. Whether someone is using an iPad to make a tune in Tamil music style or someone is reading a palm leaf manuscript, the things that unite them are Tamil, music and the story.”