French Connection

“I met Rahman a few years ago during a training job and he invited me to his studio. That’s when we got to know each other and exchanged ideas about music,” says Chaix,25,who is based in Chennai with Ronsin and does frequent harp sessions for Rahman. “With so many young people working together,it was a great experience. It expanded the creative space during the sessions,” says Chaix.

Chaix and Ronsin have been to India many times. “We like everything in India — the people,culture,all religions. We have decided to make it our home,” smiles 26-year-old Ronsin,who regularly writes lyrics and does arrangements along with Chaix for projects in Chennai. They say they had a fair idea of how big Bollywood and Rahman are,before they moved to India. “But we didn’t expect that we will sing in a film so soon — that just happened once we came here,” adds Chaix.

Although they have picked up simple Tamil phrases to communicate in Chennai,learning Hindi,they say,is not on their agenda. “We don’t know Hindi as people in Chennai speak Tamil,” says Chaix,who knew a little English before she moved to India. Ronsin learnt English only after she settled in India. Chaix is non-committal about moving to Mumbai and pursuing more Bollywood projects. “Let’s see what happens. One thing at a time,” she signs off.