Shakespeare, in arguably his most famous play, Romeo and Juliet, wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” In Indian cinema, we have often seen such roses being named differently, and proving that talent always outweighs labels. Right from Yusuf Khan, who became Dilip Kumar, to Gnanadesikan, who was rechristened Ilaiyaraaja, there are examples of people changing their names before entering the world of cinema. Of course, we have also had our fair share of spelling changes in celebrities’ names reflecting their inclination towards the field of numerology. And then, we have someone like musician, singer, lyricist, and voice artist Krithika Nelson, who has now proclaimed to the world that she is… Madrashe.
“I got a lot of visibility and love as Krithika. So, leaving it and moving forward is a rather bittersweet experience,” says Madrashe, who has no qualms admitting that she did feel vulnerable about the change, but her quest for identity trumped it all. “I had to pick an identity that felt like me. I’ve been contemplating this for a couple of years now. In fact, many advised me against changing my name. But we do what we do, I guess,” says the multihyphenate talent, known for being the voice of Trisha in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan series.
“A name connects everything and everyone to you, right? Krithika Nelson was a name I took after my wedding, and it just happened so that a lot of really good films happened after that, especially Ponniyin Selvan, my first collaboration as a singer-songwriter with AR Rahman, etc… However, I’ve moved on from that marriage, and as time went by, I stopped feeling like a Krithika Nelson,” says Madrashe, pointing out that this change wasn’t easy on both a personal and a professional level.
“While it is definitely an identity crisis on many levels, one of the first steps of changing my name in the gazette has been completed,” shares Madrashe with relief, but adds that it is a long road ahead. “Everything from Aadhaar, Passport, Bank accounts, mutual funds, stocks, etc, has to be changed. And if that isn’t enough, I also have to reach out to all my music collaborators from the past and ask them to notify Spotify about the name change. It is going to be a mammoth task.”
Having penned a series of songs under the name of Madrashe, it must have been a natural course of events to select that as the preferred name when she was grappling with this decision. “Not really! I wrote almost 200-odd names once I’d decided to change my name to facilitate my journey ahead as an artist. But none of those names felt like me. See, I knew that I wanted to change my name, but what name should I change it to? That’s when, in a half-asleep state, I heard musician Alvin Presley call me Madrashe,” says the songwriter as she explains the genesis of the idea. “Many of my fellow musicians used to call me Madrashe, and to hear it being called out loud when I was fleeting in and out of sleep, felt like… me. And it connected me to my Madras. Everything fell into place.”
But as they say, it is the first step that is the hardest, and the just rewards for her decision happened when the credits of Coolie rolled down. For the first time, she was credited as Krithika (Madrashe) for being the voice of Rachita Ram in the film. “Imagine the high of seeing your name on the big screen in a Superstar film, helmed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. Some things are just meant to be,” says Madrashe.
She is right… However long it takes, whatever route it travels, whichever obstacles it faces, some things are just meant to be. And from today, on the 386th founding day of Madras, She is… You know.
