“My goal is to become a music composer for Hollywood and also for our Indian film industry. I wish for an Oscar someday and for that, I need to work hard,” Lydian Nadhaswaram, 15, told Opoyi when asked about his dreams.
This Chennai prodigy made India proud when he won the CBS talent show “The World’s Best” in the year 2019. He not only won the prize money of $1 million but also vowed judges Drew Barrymore, RuPaul, and Faith Hill by playing 325 beats per minute.
Nadhaswaram, who spent four years at maestro A.R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory and is now tutored by his father, a Tamil music director Varshan Sathish, says that fame has never put any kind of pressure in his life. “Wherever I go, people get to recognize me and appreciate and bless me. So I don’t see this fame as a pressure in my life and doesn’t impact my dreams.”
“The international exposure has given me a lot of confidence to perform anywhere in this world in front of anyone so I feel really happy about that,” said the young stars who also impressed Ellen Degeneres with his blindfolded performance on her chat show.
With a dream to win Oscar in the future, he has made his acting debut with “Atkan Chatkan”
“It’s a fantastic story from director Shiv Hare. It has a motivation, drama, music which is so much relatable to my life and Guddu’s life which I played in the movie. You know in my initial days I struggled and practiced more and I just wanted to get a chance to prove myself to the world and two years back I got an opportunity from America. There is a competition called ‘The World’s Best’ and was asked to come and participate and we said yes and we went there and we participated and we won. And now wherever I go people get to recognize me. So was in Guddu’s case, he strives a lot, he struggles a lot, he practices a lot and his interest is completely into music and you know whatever he finds he plays and finds music out of it.
“Finally after he grows up you can see him as a successful character in the film and it is so much relatable to my life and Gudu’s life,” said the young star.
But is acting his career goal now?
“As per now, music is my main career and acting is all up to my dad. If he tells me to act, I might act but now I better stick with music,” he said adding that he is currently learning Nadhaswaram” as he feels that it is important to learn old music.
“Nadhaswaram is the toughest wind instrument in the world so I’m learning that,” said Lydian, who takes inspiration from icons like Michael Jackson, Ilayraja , A.R.Rahman and Jacob Collier and has also signed his first Malayalam movie as a music director.
“It is directed and acted by very senior Mohanlal sir. The film’s name is Barroz and it is a historical subject, a 3d film. It is my debut as a film composer and I feel so responsible,” said the star who got introduced to music when he was two-years-old and started playing drums.
But amidst all this, how is he managing his studies?
“I’m doing homeschooling as I’m not a regular school-going boy so if I get some time apart from my music I will study,” he elucidates
