If you take Roja, for instance, take the song Chinna Chinna Asai, it is the simplest song ever, but people thought it was magic. So it would be wrong for me to be judgmental; to say okay, I don't have any fancy chords in it, therefore it is not good; that Thiruda Thiruda for instance is very complex and therefore better.

In all these years of composing, you have perhaps got a fair idea of what people want, and what it is that you have within you to give them. Does that knowledge enter into the equation when you work on your next composition?

After a point in time, that is not the point. At least, that is not the main point. You have established yourself as an artist, and then even a song with four chords in it is more than just that -- at a basic level it is the song, but it is also what you are saying through the composition, what you are saying as a songwriter.

Of course, people will still want more of Roja, more of Thiruda Thiruda, more of Pudhiya Mugham, but you have to keep moving on. Like, you know, Guru was different. It is funny, I have almost forgotten Guru, but people keep reminding me, they tell me it was fantastic. So in a sense, it is also a combination of what you have to give, and what people want to take.

So basically, there are two elements to your creative process: the expectations we have of you, and what you as a composer want to do. And it is at the meeting point of these two different needs that great music happens...

Yes. In a way, I need to listen to what people say, and in a way, I need to feed them what I have. It is a delicate balance, and the trick is to find that balance. You may not always succeed, but that is what you try for. If I listen to the people and think that what they say is totally correct, I could be completely misled; in the same way, if I think what the people are saying is totally wrong, I could end up producing music that means nothing to anybody except perhaps me.

The thing with listeners, fans, is that they might like something you have done, and they will say that this is what you are best at and this is what they like and want more of -- but they won't know what more I have in store for them for the future. For instance, people said Roja was brilliant. If I had kept giving them Roja, then a Thiruda Thiruda would never have happened.

But equally, when I give them something I want to, and they complain about it, I need to listen to them and understand what they are complaining about. Actually, the internet has played a very good role for me in this.

How?

Because when people come up to you and tell you they liked your music, it could be genuine. But it could also be that as fans, they are telling you what they think you want to hear. On the internet, people are saying what they want to say, they don't even imagine or know that you might read what they have said. So their feedback is totally honest. Also, everything is dissected; everything is analysed by many people in many ways. So you get lots of feedback of all kinds. I sift through all of that and I take whatever I think is necessary for progress, and if I think something is not right then I ignore it.

Also Read: AR Rahman pleases Rajni fans with Sivaji

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