Interview: I became a writer-lyricist by accident, says Pramod Maravanthe

It is the romantic number called “Singara Siriye”, rendered by popular playback singer Vijay Prakash of “Jai Ho” fame from Slumdog Millionaire.

In exclusive chat with South First, mechanical engineer-turned-lyricist Pramod Maravanthe speaks about the birth of “Singara Siriye”, as well as his journey as a writer, the song itself, and much more.

“One fine afternoon, I got a call from Rishabh Shetty sir asking me about my whereabouts. I was pleasantly surprised by his call. I even wondered whether he had my contact number.”

“He was shooting for the Kambala race sequence at Koteshwara where I eventually met with him. That’s my first meeting with Rishabh Shetty sir,” said Pramod Maravanthe.

An accidental affair

Unlike many, turning out to become a writer and lyricist was an accidental affair for Pramod.

“Though I was always drawn towards all kinds of art forms, especially Yakshagana, I would sing a lot. I would perform for my inner circle all the popular Kannada songs. I never dreamt of taking up writing literature for movies.”

Coming from the coastal region, Pramod Maravanthe joined music director Ravi Basrur for one of his early ventures where the KGF-fame composer had acted, composed and directed the movie titled Bilindar.

Writer-lyricist Pramod. (Supplied)

“It was a tough phase with no professional job, but soon I joined one of the premier healthcare companies where I worked for a few months. Soon, however, I returned to write my first lyrics called “Chanda Chanda Nan Hendthi” for Anjaniputra, starring Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar.”

“The success of the song made me take up writing lyrics full-time,” explained Pramod, who did his mechanical engineering at NITTE Engineering College in Mangaluru.

About the popular song “Singara Siriye”, he said that he worked on the lyrics as Rishabh Shetty wanted a romantic number with freshness that had all the flavours of Karavali (coastal region of Karnataka).

Popular works of Pramod

The lyricist revealed that the Kantara director picked him up for assignment since he was one of the writers who had a close connection with the culture and traditions represented in the movie.

His first choice was not writing; it was the sport of cricket.

“I used to read, but not serious literature. I finished my professional degree and then started writing on social media. A reality show in Kannada gave opportunities to budding writers to write new lyrics for popular Kannada songs,” he recalled.

So far, Pramod Maravanthe has written over 150 songs for various projects. Of them, “Innunu Bekagide” from Mundina Nildana earned him good appreciation.

“Doora Hogo Munna” for Manuranjan Ravichandran’s Mugilpete, “Rhythm of Shivappa” for hat-trick hero Shivarajkumar Byragi, and “Whata Whata” for Daali Dhananjaya’s Ratnan Parapancha are some of his popular numbers.

Since the humongous success of “Singara Siriye”, Pramod Maravanthe is flooded with opportunities, especially from new composers with out-of-the-box projects.

The lyricist signs off by sharing that he is finally getting to work with renowned composer Arjun Janya in one of his upcoming projects for which he is penning three songs.