| Prashant Pillai | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | September 8, 1981 |
| Origin | Pune, Maharashtra, India |
| Genres | Film music, film score, soundtrack, sonic branding, soul, new age, electronic, world, soul, pop |
| Occupations | Music producer, music programmer, musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, film score writer |
| Instruments | Percussions, piano |
| Years active | 2000 – Present |
| Labels | Madras Blues Records (present) |
| Website | PrashantPillai.com |
Prashant Pillai (born September 8, 1981) is a music producer and composer from India. His music style has diverse influences and elements of jazz, electronica, funk, world music and more. Pillai is active in promoting new artists and musicians through all his productions for films, documentaries and commercial jingles.
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After completing his Sound engineering in Chennai, he went on to work with A.R.Rahman and his associate studios. After a short stint with him, he moved on and settled in Pune, where he started scoring for ad jingles, web sonics, and short films. Pillai considers A.R.Rahman to be his professional guide and mentor.
In early 2004, Pillai got his first break to compose a radio jingle and then went on to compose jingles, for both radio and television consumption.
In the year 2007, Prashant scored music for Bejoy Nambiar's, critically acclaimed short film Rahu where he teamed with singer K. S. Krishnan. Bejoy's uncanny knack of selecting unusual and experimental sounds, resulted in Prashant working on a soundtrack, which he still claims to be his best. Rahu soundtrack features Murtaza and Qadir Khan, sons of the Ustaad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. They feature in the soundtrack for the Sufi song, "Betaabi". This song was later used in a Malayalam film City of God.
Prashant's first commercial film score was for a regional film in March 2010, a Malayalam movie titled, Nayakan, an art and action film. Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, Nayakan featured actors like Indrajith, Thilakan, Siddique and Jagathy Sreekumar in pivotal roles.[1][2]
Prashant's mentor A.R.Rahman released the soundtrack of Nayakan on March 16, 2010, at Rahman's Panchathan Studios in Chennai.[3][4][5] The Nayakan soundtrack features, 6 songs, one of which is sung by Indrajith (the lead of the film) himself. Prashant worked on this project for over one and a half years, and has fused in elements that is new to the Malayali audience.
Together, director Lijo and Prashant worked on the soundscape for the film, which was designed and composed with a raw and rustic feel to it. The whole array of instruments used in the film's background score is a first for Malayalam cinema. The song, "Lolalolamay" from the soundtrack, rendered by Preeti Pillai, was the highest played out song on television channels. The title track of the film, "Ranadheera" rendered by Indrajith, and its Club Mix rendered by Preeti Pillai remains a chartbuster in the radio playouts.
In 2011, Prashant collaborated with Lijo once again for City of God[6] which opened to mixed reviews.[7][8][9] The movie stars Prithviraj and Indrajith as pivotal characters, along with Parvathi, Rima Kallingal and Shwetha Menon. The film featured the most unusual songs and score, which was well received by the urban audience.
2011 will also see the release of his debut Bollywood film Shaitan,[10] directed by his now close friend, mentor and director Bejoy Nambiar, for which Pillai has scored majority of the songs. The film is being produced by Anurag Kashyap and is scheduled for a 10 June 2011 release. The soundtrack of Shaitan has been in production for almost 2 years and has a unique soundscape to it.
Currently Prashant is working on an international production, a few Malayalam films, and he will also mark his debut in the Tamil Film industry by the end of this year.
A selected discography of Prashant's music albums
| Year | Title | Genre | Group | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Om Ganeshaya Namaha (as Prashant Pillai) | Devotional | - | Independent |
| 2005 | Amhi Puneri (as Prashant Pillai) | Pop | - | Independent |
| 2011 | debut (as Prashant Pillai) | World/Fusion/Lounge | Groove Loves Company | Madras Blues Rechords |
Original Film Score.
| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Rahu (as Prashant-Krishnan) | OST | Independent |
| 2010 | Nayakan (as Prashant Pillai) | Songs | Manorama Music |
| 2011 | City of God (as Prashant Pillai) | Songs | Satyam Audio |
| 2011 | Shaitan (as Prashant Pillai) | Songs | T-Series |
| 2011 | 1993 Bombay, March 12 (as Prashant Pillai) | Background Score | Manorama Music |