He may be the most sought after flautist in India today but Naveen Kumar is a picture of humility. Having enthralled audiences worldwide with his mellifluous flute tracks, Naveen Kumar is the man behind many popular tracks- be it the chartbuster snake charmer tune from Love Aaj Kal or the outstanding flute track from the Reliance ad featuring Hrithik Roshan. And as we go to press, he is set out on a two month world tour with his most favourite musician, A R Rahman.
Tuning in
Having trained in Carnatic Music from the Andhra University, Naveen was adept in singing Andhra folk songs from his boyhood days. However, as they say, fate had different plans albeit in music. “When I was 13, I discovered a flute that had been with my father and started toying with it. Within a span of two years, I was already performing on the radio. It gave me a great platform to showcase my talent.” And he moved to Chennai in search of greener pastures. While in Chennai, he got introduced to music maestro Illayaraja who gave Naveen his first break in the Bhagyaraj starrer Dhavani Kannavugal. “Illayaraja has been my idol since college days so it was a dream come true to work with him. I have a huge collection of his albums and it is impossible to tag any one of them as my favourite but Mouna Raagam is certainly one of my top picks.” After eight Telugu films and a short stint in music production, Naveen finally stuck with what he loved most—playing the flute.
Music has always been his life. “I find that in being a musician, I can absorb and give out new things everyday; that's why I stick to musicianship.” Apart from Illayaraja he has worked with other greats like MS Viswanathan. But the turning point in his career came along when he met Oscar winner AR Rahman. “My association with Rahman dates to pre Roja days when we worked together for jingles. The next thing I knew, Rahman calls me to record a flute track for Roja.” And as they say the rest is history. Rangeela, Bombay, Dil Se the list of these timeless classics is endless. “I am what I am mainly because of Rahman. I, particularly, enjoy working with Rahman because his music is filled with divinity. It endears the mind and the soul,” he confesses modestly. A Telugu by birth, Naveen considers himself half Tamilian attributing it to the time he spent in Chennai.
“In one of Rahman’s concerts, he requested me to play the theme music of ‘Bombay’ on stage. And when I started performing, I could hear people cheering and applauding for me. I felt honoured to see that I also have my share of loyal fans. It gave me a reason to believe that releasing my own album would bring me closer to my fans,” he smiles. Apart from playing the flute, Naveen has also used his singing abilities in many Tamil songs which include Kadhal Sadugudu from the blockbuster movie Alaipayuthey.
Eureka moments
A strong advocate of innovation for new sounds, Naveen has been creating variants of his favourite instrument. As a teenager, he would record his flute sounds in two separate tape-recorders and then superimpose both, to create a fresh tonality. Now as a reputed flautist, he does the same with several tracks and layers. On a similar occasion, while playing around with a PVC pipe, the possibilities of making a flute out of it struck Naveen and voila! What do you have? A PVC overtone flute. He achieved this feat by attaching a recorder mouthpiece to the pipe which creates the overtone effect- like harmonica. This constant quest for fresh sounds led to the creation of what he calls, the Chinese Flute. He used several parchments of paper over the flute, and then finally, the dried top layer of an onion atop a hole, to create a reedy tone! Several years later, he used this for Illayaraja’s music in the Malayalam flick ‘My Dear Kuttichathan,’ which was the first 3-D film made in India.
Naveen’s thirst for newer expressions with the flute is evident from his own flute inventions. His next invention, the glass flute, is an instrument that looks as good as it sounds. He also pioneered the use of strings inside the bamboo flute more popularly known as the ‘Naveen flute’ to create a magical combination. The patented Naveen Flute, is a revelation; a flute with zero-gauge strings that vibrate. And don’t be surprised to know that over the years he has built a collection of over 200 flutes. Naveen’s a flute connoisseur with a difference; he invents some of the flutes he plays and collects rare and exotic sounding ones. Japan’s Sakuhachi, Ireland’s Ullienn Pipes and Hulsi flutes find their place of pride in his flute collection. Naveen also collects South American flutes, and European flutes like the Fujara. I also have a Yamaha wind controller which enables anything played on the keyboard to be played on the flute. I can trigger the voice from the song onto the wind controller and change the effect of the tone.” Ask him for his favourite from the flute collection and pat comes the reply, Bansuri. “I played the bansuri in Dil Se and Roja.” Naveen also enjoys playing the Fujara as it produces a melodious and divine tone.
“I like to collect music and flutes wherever I travel. It helps me innovate and work with new sounds. While recording for a soundtrack, I make sure that every flute tone is different from the other to give it an exclusive effect. Repetition is not acceptable in this fast paced industry.” His flute tracks are omnipresent-be it the popular Airtel and Reliance theme tune or the foot tapping Dhoom Machale (where he played three different flutes), Naveen Kumar leaves his signature on every tune he plays.
Raaga to rock
From Hindustani to rock, Naveen’s music collection has it all. “In Hindustani, I enjoy listening to Parveen Sultana for she has an unusual voice texture. And, of course, I listen to Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia for obvious reasons. I grew up listening to a lot of pop music and motion picture soundtracks.” Be it Arab or Rajasthani folk music, his wide spectrum of music collection is second only to his versatility. Besides flute, he also finds his heart swaying to piano tunes by Chicorea, Louis Banks and AR Rahman.
Having moved base to Mumbai 10 years back, Naveen is quick to dismiss the fact that there is any cultural wall between the north and the south. “For a musician, there are no boundaries. The music industry is one family.” In the spring of 2010, Naveen along with the Jai Ho man, AR Rahman, collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra, as the lead musician at the Alchemy festival at London’s South bank centre, which is evidence enough that music speaks one universal language. On a lighter note, this globe trotter misses his mother’s food, no matter what part of the world he is in. He enjoys barbequing and cooking food for his family. Been married for 15 years now, he gives full credit to his wife for all her support and encouragement.
Global sounds
In 2005, he released his first album titled Fluid by Sony music. International collaborations have further stamped Naveen’s sheets of sounds and textures onto the global map albeit in an interesting way. Naveen worked with John McLaughlin on the Meeting of the Minds album and for Floating Point recalls, "When he called saying, 'Naveenji, I want to do something with you on my new record, would you be interested? I was like ‘tell me when and I'm ready!” The resulting album was dynamic, organic and an excellent example of a cross-cultural musical exchange.
Currently Couples Retreat, a Hollywood feature film has Naveen busy working with Rahman; "… the music is being done in a different way; it's meditative. Right now, he’s in L.A so and we’ve been exchanging music back and forth; it’s been great fun!
Naveen Kumar’s second album, Café Fluid, is chock full of multi- timbral expressions fully realized by prodigious global talents such as a guitar played from Armenia, a rapper from Canada, an L.A cellist (Matt Cooper), a Chennai Veena player (Rajesh Vaidya) along with stalwarts Sivamani, Louis Banks, Selva Ganesh, Sanjay Divecha and Keith Peters.
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