R ARIVANANTHAM
‘Chinna Chinna Kangal’ song from Thalapathy Vijay-starrer ‘GOAT’ produced by AGS Entertainment was released recently and received great response. Fans were in for a pleasant surprise to listen to late singer Bhavatharini singing this soulful number.
Music composer and Bhavatharini’s brother Yuvan Shankar Raja has made use of the cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology offered by Oscar-winner A R Rahman’s longtime associate Krishna Chetan’s startup Timeless Voices to bring back Bhavatharini’s voice.
- ‘Chinna Chinna Kangal’ song from Thalapathy Vijay-starrer ‘GOAT’ touches the hearts of Bhavatharini’s family members, including Maestro Ilaiyaraaja, Yuvan Shankar Raja, and Director Venkat Prabhu
- Music composer and Bhavatharini’s brother Yuvan Shankar Raja has made use of the AI technology offered by Oscar-winner A R Rahman’s longtime associate Krishna Chetan’s startup Timeless Voices
- Currently, Krishna Chetan and his Timeless Voices team are busy reviving the voices of late actors Vivekh and Manobala for ‘Indian 2’
- With its “Artiste First” approach, protecting artists is the priority of Timeless Voices. “We lead by safeguarding artistes’ rights and supporting their needs,” concludes Krishna Chetan
It may be recalled that Rahman in association with Krishna Chetan had made use of late singers Shahul Hameed and Bamba Bakya’s voices for ‘Thimiri Ezhuda,’ a power-packed song in ‘Lal Salaam’, a film that had Superstar Rajinikanth in special appearance.
After listening to this song, Yuvan Shankar Raja approached Krishna Chetan to use Bhavatharini’s voice for the family song ‘Chinna Chinna Kangal’ in ‘GOAT’.
Excited at this opportunity, Krishna Chetan took samples of Bhavatharini’s voice from Yuvan Shankar Raja’s office and worked with his team for three days to use them for the song ‘Chinna Chinna Kangal’ with the help of artificial technology.
Speaking about this, Krishna Chetan said, “Bhavatharini’s voice was very special and unique. I am grateful to Yuvan Shankar Raja for giving me the opportunity to revive it. Yuvan Shankar Raja and director Venkat Prabhu were very happy after listening to this song. I also met Maestro Ilayaraja and received his blessings.”
Currently, Krishna Chetan and his Timeless Voices team are busy reviving the voices of late actors Vivek and Manobala for ‘Indian 2’, directed by Shankar and starring Ulaga Nayagan Kamal Haasan.
An award-winning music producer and mixing engineer, Krishna Chetan, a third-generation musician and first-generation entrepreneur, has been an integral part of AR Rahman’s musical journey for nearly two decades, beginning with their collaboration on ‘Rang De Basanti’. In addition to his significant contributions as a musician, Krishna Chetan is also the founder of Pitch Innovations. This pioneering music software company has garnered numerous international accolades for its innovative products.
He says, “the idea behind Timeless Voices is to preserve the voice of singers and actors and to use it appropriately as per the need with the help of AI. We pitched this idea to Rahman sir who was impressed and used the voice of late singers Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed for ‘Thimiri Ezhuda’ song. We obtained permission from the singers’ families before going ahead. The song received a lot of positive feedback.”
Krishna Chetan adds: “We use AI to model legendary voices, helping music producers create timeless vocals. Through this, popular singers can preserve their voice as a time-capsule and creators can access top-notch voice models ethically trained from high-fidelity studio recordings. Artistes can earn revenue and retain release rights for content made with their models, actors can dub in as many languages as they want, while up and coming singers can easily reach music producers and composers across the world.”
With its “Artiste First” approach, protecting artists is the priority of Timeless Voices. “We lead by safeguarding artistes’ rights and supporting their needs,” concludes Krishna Chetan.
