HR professional in Cinema
Post Graduation in Human Resource Management
A music-filled childhood
Born as the third son of N Karunakaran Nair and Vijayalakshmi Amma in a village called Sooranad village in Kollam district. Rajesh Babu was inspired to sing by his elder sisters Vanaja and Sreeja. Then he studied music for seven years under the tutelage of Mr. Sooranad Gangadharan. As per the Guru's instructions, he was active in music concerts and recitals during his graduation.
From Sooranad to Nagpur
Rajesh came to Nagpur after his graduation for higher studies. After completing his Master's in Human Resource Management from Nagpur University, he worked as an HR Executive in a Five-Star Hotel for four years. Then he came to Kerala and worked as an HR manager in various fields for about 15 years. After working as an HR manager in various sectors like Retail, Hospital, Manufacturing, Service Industries, etc., he starts an industrial firm to settle down with his family in Kozhikode for the rest of his life. The constant problems faced by all Entrepreneurs who dream of an industry in Kerala cropped up in his case too. These issues eventually started taking their toll on his personal life also. He decided to take a break and start everything all over again on a clean slate.
HR Management and Cinema
Over 15 years of experience in Human Resource Management helps Rajesh to see his life from an HR perspective. Thus, with the help of management practices such as Neuro-linguistic Programming, Emotional Intelligence, Relationship Management Techniques, Transactional Analysis, etc., which are used in HR training programs, he looks at his one's own life, and fictionalizes his own life and makes it into a screenplay. Thus with the help of his friends Anand Surya (Actor), AK Sathar (Director), and Girish Thalassery (Producer) made his entry into movies as a Scenarist cum Musician.
A Music Director named Rajesh Babu
During the post-production work of the film Take It Easy, he got the opportunity to meet many prominent people in the film industry. Thus he decided to compose a song for Kerala Piravi's Diamond Jubilee. Thus, the song ''Chandanam Sugandhamekiya Sundarodayakeralam'' penned by the famous poet ''Shri PK Gopi'' was presented as a gift to Kerala on the day of Kerala's Birth. The song was a musical and visual feast with the participation of ten playback singers and over a hundred artists from Kozhikode District.
Through his friend Shanavas Kannanchery, he met Production Controller Mr. Shaji Pattikara and got an opportunity to compose the music for the song ''Maduramam Ormakal'' for the movie ''Mattancherry''produced by Mr. Shaji Pathelkara. The song in Mattancherry was composed by a composer duo teaming up with music director Shimjith Sivan, who helped Rajesh in the post-production work of ''Take It Easy''. Then as a composer-duo, he decided to compose music for the films Ithiri Vettam, Vellaripravum, Pullu, etc. KY Yesudas, KS Chitra, MG Sreekumar, Karthik, Haricharan, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Biju Narayanan, Madhu Balakrishnan, Afzal, Anwar Sadat, Mithun Jayaraj, Rimi Tommy, Sithara Krishnakumar, Jyotsana Radhakrishnan, KS Harishankar, Najeem Arshad, KK Nishad, Madhusree Narayanan, Ranjini Jose, Sanah Moidutty, Anoop Shankar, Gayathri, Manjari, Chitra Arun, etc. have all sung in Rajesh Babu's music in the last fifteen films.
"Pullu" a turning point
First-Clap is an organization formed under the leadership of the renowned film director ''Mr. Shajoon Kariyal'' to train and inspire film dreamers. First Clap's first film venture Pullu was a big turning point in Rajesh Babu's film career. Rajesh Babu and Shimjith Sivan composed the songs and BGM for the film Pullu. The movie "Pullu" has won several awards and accolades at various international film festivals. Meanwhile, films like Sreehalli, Oru Pappadavada Premam, Kakkapponnu (BGM), and Pranayamrutham (BGM) for which Rajesh Babu composed music hit the theaters and OTT platforms and Rajesh co-produced some other films. He then decides to create his own niche in cinema as an Entrepreneur who approaches a project from a human resource management perspective.
The power of friendship
Rajesh Babu's production house has the infrastructural support of many friends like Saji Lukas (K Studios, Ernakulam), Shoukat Lucca (Lucca Media) Shimjith Sivan (Shivam Studios). The confidence and strength given by PK Sunilkumar, Sudhi, and many other friendships drive Rajesh forward.
New faces - New talents
South Indian playback singer Sanah Moidutty sang for the first time in Malayalam cinema with the song ''Athira Raavil Nee Chinnum Mazhaai...'' for the movie Anandakalyanam. The songs of the musically dense film ''Ananda Kalyanam'' have grabbed the audience's attention through social media even before the film's release. The film's Tamil song ''En Swaskartre'' was penned by the lyricist-duo of Beeba K Nath and Sajitha Muralidharan. Rajesh Babu has already been able to provide opportunities to more than 50 different artists and technicians (with different talents) like singers, lyricists, sound designers, editors, cinematographers, choreographers, screenwriters, directors, sound designers, sound engineers, etc. in the last fifteen films.
Rajesh Babu as a Designer and Producer
Perfume, Binary, and Zha too
Perfume - In the meantime, he met Mothi Jacob, the producer of the film Perfume, through his friend Shanavas Kannanchery. With the experience of having to give up his dream of being an entrepreneur halfway through, he understands the pain of a producer who is unable to complete the film despite losing his own house. Sarath Gopinath and Singer Sunil Kumar offered to lend support to Rajesh Babu to take an instrumental role in making Mothi Jacob's dream come true. Prominent director Haridas' 'Perfume' starring Pratap Pothan, Kaniha, and Tiny Tom in the lead roles was released on 18 November 2022 and has been picked up by popular platforms for its OTT - Foreign Language rights. Perfume movie songs composed by Rajesh Babu himself are hits on YouTube and various other platforms. ''Perfume'' movie won Film Critics Award in the year 2021 for Best Singers - KS Chitra for singing the song ''Neelavanam Thalamenti'' written by Advocate Sreeranjini and PK Sunilkumar for singing the song ''Shariayet Thethet'' penned by Sreekumaran Thampi.
Binary - The upcoming movie produced by Miraj Mohammed and Rajesh Babu will hit the screens next month. Directed by Jasik Ali, Binary stars Joy Mathew, Sijoy Varghese, Kailas, Anish Menon, Anish Ravi Levin, Mamukoya, Nirmal Palazhi, Nawaz Vallikun and Kiran Raj in lead roles. The song Poru Mazhameghame from this film penned by Mr. PK Gopi and composed by Rajesh Babu K Sooranad himself and sung by South Indian singers Haricharan and Pooja is already a hit on YouTube.
Zha - Shri Girish PC Palam is a person who has made a remarkable mark in the Malayalam Theater Scene. Written and directed by Girish PC Palam, the movie Zha is produced by Rajesh Babu K Sooranad under the banner of VOC Media. It has an ensemble cast comprises of Manikandan Achari, Nandu Anand, Naira Nihar Laxmipriya, Santhosh Keezhatoor, Rajesh Sharma, Shiny Sara Vijayan Karanthoor, Ajitha VM, Anupama VP etc. Famous actors and actresses in the field of cinema and theater are acting in this film. The music of songs and background music of the film are composed by Rajesh Babu.
Completed Projects
Bellum Break directed by PC Sudhir under the banner of Raaz Movies is releasing soon with a song composed by Rajesh Babu and sung by Vineeth Sreenivasan. Directed by Krishnajith the "soon-to-be-released film - Randam Mukham" starring Manikandan Achari, Marina Michael, and Anjali Nair, has songs and background music composed by Rajesh Babu.
Busy now
Meenakshi is written and directed by renowned journalist P Murali Mohan under the banner - Raaz Movies. Rajesh Babu is currently busy composing music for BK Harinarayan's lyrics for the film. The music direction for the multi-lingual film ''Bloodmoon'' directed by Saji Lukkos is going along with. And also busy with the responsibility of taking the role of a producer to bring the films Perfume and Binary to theaters.
Purpose and Purposefulness
People like, artists who are unable to find an opportunity to express their inner talent, other technical workers, and producers who spend money to make a film without a clear understanding of the film and become helpless midway investors who are cheated by the temptations of others. Rajesh Babu's dream is to bring them together and use their resources to bring a project to success hopefully an entrepreneur's determination from the perspective of human resource management will help him.
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