Varun Unni

Varun Unni
Background information
Born (1989-07-15) 15 July 1989 (age 35)
Kochi, Kerala, India
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
  • Keyboard
  • piano
  • drums
Years active2012–present

Varun Unni is an Indian composer and singer, who predominantly composes for television commercials. He has also composed for a few feature films, having debuted with the 2012 Malayalam film Annum Innum Ennum.

Early life and career

Varun Unni was born on 15 July 1989 in Kochi, Kerala. He did his schooling at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala in Kochi and went on to graduate from engineering at Adi Shankara College of Engineering, Kalady.

Although devoid of any background in films, Varun's first priority was always film music. After training at Kalabhavan, he went on to work with bands like Highway Haze and Flying Squad. He lists Bob Marley and Eric Clapton as his greatest influences.[1]

Film composing career

Though his debut film bombed at the box office, Varun's debut work "Ayyo" from Annum Innum Ennum was noticed.[1] His second film with the same team failed again at the box-office. He shifted focus to composing jingles for advertisement films and associated with famous brands like Chemmanur and MCR. In 2017, he was offered the Kannada film Kempegowda-2, a spin-off of Kempe Gowda, the Kannada remake of Singam. The film opened to a favourable response and Varun subsequently signed more films in Kannada, including Kongka Pass with the same team.

Music videos

Smile

In 2013, Varun produced a social cause album titled Smile featuring five singles by Shwetha Mohan as well as songs by upcoming singers Suchith Suresan and Yazin Nizar. It was released by the indie music label Tune4 Music.[2]

Second Rain

In 2017, Varun Unni composed the music for the music movie Second Rain (Peyyum Mazhaye), produced and directed by Lijo Augustin, with cinematography by A. Kumaran of Thanga Magan fame.

The video also featured Arundhati, who starred in the Tamil film Saithan. The lyrics and video of the song narrate a tale of romance where rain acts as the predominant backdrop to important moments in the love story of a young couple. The video also features a short climactic fight sequence, for which Varun composed the background score.

The song was released via Muzik 247. The vocals were by Shweta Mohan and Ranjith, with programming by Ashwin Sivadas.[3] [4][5]

Upcoming films

As of 2023, Varun has signed films Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada languages. His first release of 2024 would be the Tamil film The Door, directed by Jaiidev starring Bhavana in the lead role.[6][7]

Film discography

Year Film Language Songs Background score Notes
2013 Annum Innum Ennum Malayalam Yes No One song
2013 Escape from Uganda Malayalam Yes No Three songs
2019 Kempe Gowda-2 Kannada Yes Yes Kannada debut[8]
Spin-off of Kempe Gowda, the Kannada remake of Singam
2024 The Door[9] Tamil Yes Yes Tamil debut.
2024 Azadi[10][11] Malayalam Yes Yes

References

  1. ^ a b K. Pradeep (2013). "On Song". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  2. ^ Serin Sam (2013). "A reason to smile for Varun Unni". Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  3. ^ Vidya Nair (2017). "Striking the right chord". Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  4. ^ Express News Service (2017). "'Second Rain' makes a splash on Social Media". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  5. ^ Mathrubhumi News (2017). "സോഷ്യല്‍ മീഡിയയില്‍ തരംഗമായി മ്യൂസിക് മൂവി 'സെക്കന്‍ഡ് റെയിന്‍'". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Bhavana plays lead in brother Jaiiddev's directorial, The Door". The Times of India. 14 June 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Bhavana to return to Tamil industry after 13 years with horror film The Door". The Indian Express. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Komal back with Kempegowda 2- The New Indian Express". 13 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Bhavana plays lead in brother Jaiiddev's directorial, The Door". The Times of India. 14 June 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  10. ^ "ആസാദി ടൈറ്റിൽ ലോഞ്ച്". 16 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Sreenath Bhasi, Lal and Saiju Kurup headline new thriller". Cinema Express. 2 August 2023.