Playback is proud to present the 2024 cohort for our annual 10 to Watch. This year’s group of Canadian screen industry talents were selected from more than 250 submissions. We are rolling out profiles on each individual this month.
Tamil composer Kalaisan Kalaichelvan is rising in Canada’s music scene, swiftly building up a resume in film, and now expanding to television.
“I tell people, ‘Listen to him, catch on now, jump on to the Kalaisan train’ because I just believe in him so deeply,” V.T. Nayani, the director of This Place, the first feature Kalaichelvan composed for, tells Playback Daily. “I meet a lot of incredible people, it’s hard to pick between four of my favourite cinematographers. But, there is no one else I will work with when it comes to music. I will always find a budget for him.”
Nayani met the Scarborough, Ont. native in 2021 as part of their time at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC), when Kalaichelvan was part of the Slaight Family Music Lab and Nayani in the Directors’ Lab.
It was also through the CFC that Kalaichelvan met Zarrar Kahn, the director of In Flames, Kalaichelvan’s second feature film score.
“Kalaisan’s year with the music lab was an unusual year, in that it had to be rebooted multiple times due to COVID closures,” says Kathryn Emslie, executive lead, programs – talent development and content creation at the CFC. “What was meant to be a nine-month part-time program, ended up being over a year.”
According to Emslie, these delays allowed the CFC cohorts to have more time to breathe and get to know each other better. It also allowed Kalaichelvan to take part in the 2021 Sundance Institute Film Music Intensive and have a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Both This Place and In Flames were selections for international film festivals, with This Place selected for the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and In Flames selected for the 2023 edition of TIFF, the Red Sea International Film Festival and Directors’ Fortnight, an independent section held parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. In Flames was also selected as Pakistan’s entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.
Fast forward to 2024 and the 29-year-old is in the midst of composing for Bet, a Netflix live-action series produced by Boat Rocker Media, based on the popular Japanese manga and anime Kakegurui. Developed for TV by Simon Barry, the series is set in a boarding school for the global elite where the student hierarchy is determined by gambling.
“Kakegurui‘s score is rooted in a jazz world that I think reflects the craziness of everything that’s happening on screen,” says Kalaichelvan. “We were more interested in building its own sound. Anime lives so differently when it’s in live adaptation, the colour and the spirit. So, I think the music had to do that.”
The 10 x 30-minute series, currently in post-production, represents a departure for Kalaichelvan, whose work in the film industry, up until now, has solely consisted of shorts and features. However, Kalaichelvan says it is an exciting change.
“I’ve been lucky that I get to work with filmmakers who try to bring me on at the script stage, sometimes before shooting, and there’s a lot of time for ideation,” says Kalaichelvan. “In TV, or at least this series, you have less of the luxury of time. Things move very fast … but something about that is exciting because you’re making choices and committing to them quite instinctually.”
Prior to Bet, Kalaichelvan composed for the 2024 TIFF-selected film Shook directed by Amar Wala, set in Scarborough.
“We had interviewed a number of composers, and Kalaisan was probably the most junior,” says Wala. “[The music supervisors, producers and I were] just really in on him from the beginning. No concerns about his experience level, we just felt very confident he could do it.”
Wala says that Kalaichelvan’s confidence, musical instincts and ability to communicate were all aspects of why he was chosen as the film’s composer.
“Shook is a pretty well-funded for what it is, but we’re still generally, as far as filmmaking goes, a pretty low-budget movie,” says Wala. “Things have to move quickly, and that initial instinct of a key collaborator is really vital in getting things done on time.”
Kalaichelvan says he grew up surrounded by classical and South Asian musicians and developed a passion for both classical music and film. However, before Kalaichelvan was ever able to dedicate himself to his passion full-time, he studied biochemistry at McMaster University.
“I worked with neurodegenerative diseases and my research was focused on Parkinson’s and brain tumors,” says Kalaichelvan. “My circle was still very much artist-oriented. I was around other musicians, theatre artists and dancers … My desire to create and make an impact just felt right in the space of music.”
During this time, Kalaichelvan was composing short films such as Inland Freaks, 80613 and Petit Four, which were directed by his brother Kalainithan Kalaichelvan, currently in the CFC’s Directors’ Lab.
In 2020, Kalaichelvan transitioned from STEM to composing full-time, but he says a part of that world remains with him as the way he puts his music together comes from a STEM-oriented process.
Other work Kalaichelvan has done includes composing for Lenin M. Sivam’s 2022 feature film The Protector. Kalaichelvan was also one of four selections for the New Music Concerts inaugural Makeway program, designed to cultivate the growth of early-career musical creators.
“I have no doubt that [Kalaichelvan] is going to be an important voice,” says Brian Current, a Canadian composer and artistic director of the 54-year old New Music Concerts organization. “I want to see his music front and centre because he has real ideas and I believe he’s going to be a strong voice in concert music in the years to come.”
Photo courtesy of Kalaisan Kalaichelvan