Yet Manikanth is today's new-age musician. With his ponytail and modern attire, Manikanth is comfortable scoring music which is deeply rooted in melody for films.

Manikanth chose not to follow the tradition of playing the sax but to stay in the realm of music and compose for films and albums. He has scored music for Kannada and Malayalam films and a crossover project (Rajshri Ojha's Chaurahen).

He made his debut in Telugu films as a composer with Avakkai Biryani (produced by Sekhar Kammula and Chandrasekhar Kammula and directed by Anish Kuruvilla). Manikanth tracks the Avakkai Biryani experience and his musical journey in this interview. Excerpts:

Avakkai Biryani is your first musical score in Telugu. What prompted you to take it up?

It was basically the story and the theme. It was Sekhar Sir's production and I admired his movies. Anish gave me a thick book (script), which I read in one day. I got hooked to the story. The script was earthy and nice, not commercial. I thought this is the perfect script to begin in Telugu.

Text: Radhika Rajamani

Also See: Avakkai Biriyani: A slice of life

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