Exclusive | Chinmayi interview on ‘Thug Life’ song: ‘Despite praise, I feel numb’

Singer Chinmayi, who has sung for ‘Thug Life’, starring Kamal Haasan
| Photo Credit: S Shivaraj

Singer Chinmayi is back in the limelight.

Her rendition of Tamil track ‘Mutha Mazhai’ at the recent Thug Life audio launch in Chennai is garnering a lot of praise. The interesting part is that Chinmayi has sung the Telugu and Hindi versions of this particular track composed by AR Rahman but not the Tamil version, which has been sung by singer Dhee, most popular for her ‘Enjoy Enjaami’.

“When I sang it, it was just another performance. It was just like how I perform classics of other singers; I have sung S Janaki amma’s, Chitra amma’s songs on various stages in the past. I sang the Tamil version that evening because Dhee was not available. I was a stand-in,” she explains.

That she might have been, but the version she dished out on stage, in the presence of thousands of fans and the entire starcast including Kamal Haasan, Silambarasan and Trisha, has gone viral; its official recording from music label Saregama Tamil has already hit more than 2 million views, with music fans demanding that it be included in the film’s final version.

“When Dhee was cast, I’m sure they were going for something quirky. Dhee has a special musical expression, which cannot be imitated by anybody else. This whole talk about her version versus mine… it feels like we are part of a wrestling match that we did not sign up for. As artistes, we openly admire each other’s work. It is not a competition,” she says, “I want to apologise to Dhee. She’s a young girl. To compare the two versions is not necessary at all.”

Is Chinmayi banned?

The recent limelight on her has not yet sunk in, she adds. “Because, in the last seven years, my DMs have been filled with abuse. Somewhere, my emotions got numb after that and now, when there is so much adulation, I’m like, ‘thank you, I guess’. While I’m truly grateful for this, I have become numb.”

Chinmayi is, of course, referring to the years since 2018, when she named influential people in the film and music industry as part of the #MeToo movement. This, she says, has made unions within the industry ‘ban’ her, thus depriving her of singing and dubbing chances in Tamil films. “There are 20-plus unions in the film industry, and members are usually part of multiple unions. The dubbing union banned me. Director Mithran had to make me dub in secret for Hero. I also dubbed for Leo, for which they tried to track down the studio where it was worked on. When a film comes to the dubbing stage, people are racing against time, and they don’t have the bandwith to deal with such a ‘ban’,” she says.

Facing repercussions for using her in films, many composers have opted for other available singers. “A lot of music composers tell me that they want to make me sing, but that their producers wouldn’t let them,” says Chinmayi, who describes the support of her family members and house owners as her biggest support, “Directors CS Amudhan and PS Mithran and music composer Govind Vasantha have also supported me through this phase. Actress Samantha has been my greatest cheerleader through this, as have Kerala actresses Parvathy and Rima.”

Musical discoverability

Chinmayi burst into the Tamil music scene in 2002, with the blockbuster ‘Oru Deivam’ song in Kannathil Muthamittal, a film that was directed by Mani Ratnam and had music by AR Rahman. More than two decades later, her work in Thug Life, which is a film again from the same director-composer combination, is being discussed. How different were these two experiences? “Nothing has changed. The working experience was the same. For Thug Life, Rahman sir sang a few lines, taught me and we worked on it.” The song showcases elements of Carnatic and qawwali as well. “It showcases his creative genius; he may be given the same bag of rice, but he’ll give you an entire 15-course menu with it.”

Her performance at the Thug Life audio launch has, in turn, led to music fans discovering some of her older work. “This happened when I did a Twitter Spaces concert during the pandemic. A lot of people then requested some older songs of mine too and they got a lease of life then. In general, my career is defined by tracks that people don’t know I sang. If I ever have a live concert in Chennai, I will probably name it ‘I did not know you sang that’,” she laughs.

Trisha, Kamal Haasan, AR Rahman, Mani Ratnam and Silambarasan TR during the promotion of their upcoming film ‘Thug Life’
| Photo Credit:
PTI

That probably marks her musical versatility; Chinmayi sounds very different — from a melodious ‘Sara Sara’ to an energetic ‘Mayya Mayya’. “Many of my songs have been standalone hits, but listeners have not been able to make a connection and attribute it to me, though my name is in the credits. If a composer asks for a certain tonality, I do it and that change of shruti results in a change of voice and tone. Maybe some listeners do not make the connection that it is the same singer,” explains Chinmayi, who is looking forward to engage more with art and music in the future.