His name may be unfamiliar, but name his songs and eyes light up with recognition.
The reclusive MM Keeravani is the music composer behind hits such as Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai (Jism; 2003), Aa Bhi Jaa (Sur; 2002) and Naatu Naatu (RRR; 2022), which recently became the first Indian film track to be shortlisted for Best Original Song at the Oscars (it’s been nominated at the Golden Globes too).
Keeravani, 61, shares his last name with a Carnatic raga. In Hindi films, he’s credited as MM Kreem; in Tamil and Malayalam films, as Maragathamani. “Stephen King had two identities (King wrote under the pen name Richard Bachman for a while). I have three,” Keeravani has said.
Nomenclature isn’t the only thing about him that’s diverse. Keeravani has had hits in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi, going back to the early 1990s. He has crafted songs that are devotional, soundtracks that boom, tender lullabies and lilting ballads of love and loss, drawing from Hindustani and Carnatic ragas and Western classical influences, roping in his beloved harmonium and violin.
Born in Kovvur, Andhra Pradesh, the son of lyricist and screenwriter K Siva Shakthi Datta, Keeravani’s bond with music was formed early. By the age of five, he was learning to play multiple instruments; by 10, he was performing violin solos before paying audiences.
He got his start in Telugu films, as an assistant to the composer K Chakravarthy. Then came Ram Gopal Varma’s Telugu crime caper Kshana Kshanam (Every Moment; 1991), and Keeravani got his big break. The melodious Jaamu Rathiri (roughly, In the Early Hours of the Night) launched his career. That year, Keeravani also won Best Music Director at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for the soundtrack of Azhagan (Handsome; 1991), starring Mammootty. This series of songs was composed in the Carnatic ragas Dharmavati, Kharaharapriya and Maand.
It would be a few years before Keeravani found a foothold in Hindi cinema. His break here came via a Telugu romance called Boy Friend (1994), which starred Pooja Bhatt and sank without a trace. “The producer of that film wanted to make a film with my father (Mahesh Bhatt). They decided to make Criminal (1994, Manisha Koirala and Nagarjuna) and got MM Kreem on board because he had worked with that producer on Boy Friend,” says Bhatt. “It was love at first chord for my father. When he thought of making Zakhm, he said he couldn’t make the film without Kreem.”
Seamlessly blending old-school melody with classical influences set to Western arrangements, Keeravani delivered Hindi hits through the late 1990s and early Aughts. Tu Mile Dil Khile from Criminal was an instant chartbuster and he followed it up with songs such as Chup Tum Raho (Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin; 1996), Gali Mein Aaj Chand Nikla (Zakhm; 1998) and Awaarapan Banjarapan (Jism; 2003). Even when the films failed, his songs were remembered.
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An integral part of Keeravani’s musical legacy has been his collaboration with his paternal cousin, filmmaker SS Rajamouli. Their 12-year age difference meant that Keeravani was already an established name in the Telugu and Hindi film industries when Rajamouli began working on his debut film, Student No. 1 (2001).
Over two decades, the duo has collaborated on 12 films, establishing a shorthand that goes beyond music. “Working with Rajamouli is like writing notes without a pen and paper,” Keeravani told the film platform IndieWire in 2022.
As music director for the myth-inspired two-part extravaganza Bahubali, Keeravani drew from lilting folk music, evocative shlokas and thunderous martial tunes to create a pulsating two-part soundtrack. With RRR, the tempo is raised further.
Keeravani’s discography is a study in versatility. His composition for Annamayya, a 1997 K Raghavendra Rao film on the life of the revered 15th-century poet, is classical and devotional and won him a National Award. In 2003, he gave NTR Jr one of his biggest dance hits, with Chiraku Anuko (heavily inspired by the Eurodance track Cotton Eye Joe) in the Rajamouli film Simhadri (2003).
“His longevity is purely because he is so phenomenally talented. He’s given us both Naatu Naatu and Awaarapan Banjarapan. He’s not one of those old-world composers who looks down on technology. He’s just as much as ease while composing on his violin or harmonium as he is working complicated music software on his computer,” says Riya Mukherjee, who has worked as lyricist on three tracks (Dosti, Sholay and Nacho Nacho) for the Hindi version of RRR.
Fame doesn’t seem to interest Keeravani, though. He rarely grants interviews. As far back as 2014, he indicated that he was readying to retire. In a Facebook post that year, he said he’d call it a day when he hit the 27-year mark, in December 2016. Then, in 2015, he worked on his biggest hit until then: the first Bahubali film. He has since written, sung and composed hits such as Janani (Mother; from the RRR soundtrack).
In a full-circle moment, the Oscar nomination involves a next-generation Keeravani too. The composer has two sons, Sri Simha Koduri, an actor, and Kaala Bhairava, who sang Naatu Naatu with Rahul Sipligunj. If the song plays at the Oscars, that’ll be a first of a different kind.
