Thaman Explains Why 'Game Changer' Album Didn't Work: None Of The Songs Had a Proper 'Hook Step'

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, music composer Thaman was asked about how he simultaneously works on multiple high-profile films, such as Prabhas’ Raja Saab and Pawan Kalyan’s OG currently. He replied, "I’m not doing any stereotypical films. OG is a complete gangster film; Pawan Kalyan holding a gun is my favourite genre. I saw some rushes and my blood is boiling! While I’m working on the background score, I convert my studio into the OG movie zone with Pawan Kalyan’s photos all over and I work obsessively."

He also shed some more light on his work for Raja Saab. "For Raja Saab, we’ve only started to compose songs now. They finished the whole film, and I like the process of composing the songs for it after I get to see the final film. I had made a set of songs earlier... but because it took longer, I decided to trash all those older tunes and come up with fresh ones."

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Thaman, whose last major hit was the soundtrack of Daaku Maharaaj, added that he felt that it was his responsibility as a composer to rejig the tunes when he feels they won't do well.

"I feel as a composer, it’s my duty to be honest and tell my director that some of the tunes are dead now and that they won't work. I’ve also matured a lot after the films I’ve worked on after signing Raja Saab. There is so much of investment from the audio company and they’re investing ₹30 to ₹40 crores on the music of Raja Saab and the album must work pan-India. I had no choice but come up with newer tunes," he said.

But does he feel the pressure of these numbers at all? Do producers expect his songs to bring a certain number of YT views?

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Thaman says, "I have the song with most views in Telugu. Butta Bomma now has 910 million views. See we’re all trying to make hit songs, but we have to trust the melody. I can pull off a song that will generate between 50 to 100 million views. But after that, it depends on the song’s hook step. I missed out on that for the songs of Game Changer. None of the songs in it had a proper “hook step”. But all the songs in Ala Vaikunthapuramaloo had hook steps and they all helped me in scoring so many million views. Apart from the composer, the hero and the dance master too must take responsibility to see if the song’s hook steps work because that’s what works on Reels. That’s what worked in ‘Nain Mataka’ from Baby John."

But the composer is also pretty self-aware, to the point of stating that commercial songs or tunes are "like French fries."

"Initially, they might taste good but they’re not healthy for you. Melodies are long lasting. That’s what I’ve learnt from my masters like Illaiyaraaja sir. There are songs of his that you can listen to at any point in time. But heavy songs can only be listened to during a party. You cannot listen to a ‘Kurchi Madathapetti’ now... it cannot calm your mind," he concludes.