Gurukiran: Learnt music after I started earning

Gurukiran (second from right) at a college competition at Town Hall, Mangalore. Credit: Photo by Special Arrangement

With a co-star in Tulu film 'Badkonji Kabithe.' Credit: Photo by Special Arrangement

Gurukiran (standing centre, in dark-colored shirt) with the team of the hit film ‘Apthamitra’. Credit: Photo by Special Arrangement

Music director Gurukiran, whose hit scores include ‘A’, ‘Chithra’, ‘Apthamitra’, ‘Jogi’, and ‘Govindaya Namaha’, is also a singer and actor. He has received several awards for his work.

Schooling and sports

Gurukiran’s father K Jayaram Shetty worked in the Indian Air Force and mother A Rathnakanthi Shetty was deputy director of collegiate education. He did his schooling in Mangaluru in Nazareth Convent and St Aloysius High School.

Gurukiran used to play kabaddi, football and hockey. “There were huge playgrounds, which helped. I was also a good student,” he says. He remembers the Mangaluru rains and bustle with fondness. When his mother was posted to Bengaluru, he came to the city with her. “For my pre-university days, I joined Sri Sathya Sai Institute. I stayed in the hostel and learnt a lot, especially about how to deal with different kinds of people,” he says.

Gurukiran explored his artistic side as a charcoal and pencil artist. “I was popularly known as Artist Guru then. At the hostel, the bhajans created an interest in music for me,” he says.

His own band

He returned to Mangaluru and joined University College for his graduation. “I participated casually in a competition. Suddenly, I was singing and popular. I started singing with a group of friends, who also sang at college competitions. We won cash prizes and were soon booked for New Year’s events,” he says.

Gurukiran started his own band, playing covers of Hindi and Kannada film songs. It was called Quality Beats. “It is known as Gurukiran Nights now. The band was huge. Even today, my full band has 50 members,” he says.

Debut in films

Gurukiran’s parents didn’t want him to become a fulltime musician. “I started learning music only after I started earning,” he says.

After college, he started singing for films. His first project wasn’t released, but the audio was. “I sang for the Tulu film ‘Badkonji Kabithe’ next and the team made me the hero too. I appeared next in a guest appearance in the Tulu film ‘Sathya Olundu’ and again in ‘Rathri Pagal’,” he says.

He was later seen in the Kannada film ‘Mouna Horata’. During the shooting, he recorded a pop album, ‘Snehaloka’. “V Manohar wrote the lyrics. I didn’t get support from audio companies and couldn’t release it,” he says.

Gurukiran started working as an assistant to popular lyricist-composer V Manohar soon after. “I would sing tracks and was a composing assistant. I used to play keyboards for films. It was a new phase in life,” he recalls.

He worked with Manohar on about 30 projects, including ‘Gajje Nada’, ‘Janumada Jodi’ and ‘Suryavamsha’. “In 1994, I worked on a TV title song. Upendra called me for my first film ‘A’ after this. We recorded and released it in 1998 and it was a blockbuster hit,” Gurukiran says.

Soon after ‘A’, Gurukiran pursued projects in Bollywood but nothing took off. “The audio of the Kannada film ‘A’ did well and collected about Rs 2 crore. After this, I worked on ‘Upendra’, which also did well,” he says.

It was the Dinesh Babu directorial ‘Chithra’ that changed the game for him. “The songs became a rage and I embarked on my journey as a music director then,” he says.

Gurukiran has worked on more than 100 films. “About 45 have done 100 days at the theatres,” he says.

He has worked with directors such as Rajendra Singh Babu, D Rajendra Babu, Dinesh Babu, Upendra, Prem and Ramesh Aravind.

“Ramesh is knowledgeable and knew exactly what he wanted. Working with Upendra is a delight, and he is more of a friend to me. It was more about being together and having fun,” Gurukiran says. Gurukiran wanted to be known as a singer and not as a music director.

“I have sung in five languages and around 300 songs in films, including 100 for myself. I sang ‘2000 AD Lady’ in ‘Upendra’, the rap portion in ‘A’, ‘Kannallu Neenene’ in ‘Pallakki’, ‘Bandal Badaayi Mahadeva’ in ‘Ekadanta’ and ‘Kolle Nannanne’ in ‘Aramane’,” he says.

He prefers composing music to acting. “I have control over music and I am the boss,” he says. Gurukiran has proved that he can work on varied music. “With ‘Apthamitra’, the audience knew I could work in classical music and my folk side was revealed in ‘Jogi’,” he says. He is currently busy with PRK Productions’ ‘Family Pack’ and ‘Muthappa Rai’.