Tarun Writes his Own Tune

MUSIC is the fruit of love, when it is played, it heals the human soul, so sings Oyaba, a South African reggae group that once rocked Fiji.
That is exactly how one would describe Tarun Nandha's passion for Hindi music.
Tarun may not be known to many locals but this man's love has seen him reach places in the music world where we can only dream of going.
An accountant, it is no wonder Tarun finds satisfaction in listening and singing as he works with figures and on balance sheets.
"I was born and bred here in Fiji but today I live in Australia. I regularly come to Fiji because we have a firm operating here," he said.
"Singing has been a passion for me. I love to sing as well as writing my own lyrics and putting new tunes to them," he said.
Tarun attended school at Nadi Sangam Primary School before moving to Shri Vivekananda High School, today known as Swami Vivekananada College.
That was where Tarun's love for music started to develop.
"At school we were encouraged not only to excel in our academic work but to do well in areas like drama and singing.
"It was from school that the teachers realised I was good at writing my own lyrics and putting a tune to it, so they encouraged me," he said.
"The passion for singing has taken me to Bollywood where I get to see first-hand the music industry there.
"Not only that, I was able to help and even sang with Kalyanji Anandji," Tarun said.
Mr Anandji is one of the most respected songwriters in Bollywood.
"To be working alongside him was a great experience and an eye opener. I helped him on a few of his songs on the soundtrack for movies being done by Amitabh Bhachan.
"That, for me was an honour, to offer my services and to have my work recognised by some of the highest paid actors and actresses of Bollywood," Tarun said.
But Bollywood couldn't capture the attention of this Nadi man and he went back to Australia to continue his accounting studies until he graduated as an accountant. "Nevertheless, I still had that urge in me to write and sing songs," he said.
Despite his achievement in the academic field and success in the Hindi music industry in Australia, his mind is never far from Fiji.
"This was one reason why I was interested in composing a three track number for the movie Adhura Sapna.
"The movie was shot in Fiji, and when I was asked to compose the numbers, I knew straight away this was again a way of reconnecting to my Fiji links," he said.
"I was taken away by the movie trailer and I just couldn't wait to put down in words the emotions of the characters in the movie.
"The song Ho adhura kaysa yeh aapan was the title song of the movie and it became the number one hit on the local Hindi radio stations," he said.
Tarun said the song was one that described the emotions of actors and the struggle of bringing the nation together under one banner.
To compliment his lyrics in the song, Tarun used a military band as background music.
Tarun said the success of such local movies and music was a good sign for local producers.
"I believe there is potential in the local industry and Adhura Sapna showcases some very good talent who can match international standards given the resources," he said.
For now Tarun is looking forward to producing more soundtracks for locally-shot films.