They are talented and raring to be noticed — and knowing the Mazan Duo, few would bet against them. Sisters Vagu and Vandana have been on the fast-track to fame since they were just kids, born into a musician’s family and growing up surrounded by the wonderful world of the playback industry.

“We used to go and watch our dad, Dhivyaraja at the recording studio and were immersed in the whole process — and it was educative too! Eventually, I decided to become a guitarist and composer, starting off with a lot of short films. I’ve also played guitar for many others such as Sivamani, and perform with a string of bands such as Project Triplet. Western classical is my favourite genre. Though I compose with my sister, I want to establish a brand as a solo performer as well,” smiles Vagu, who is 24.

Vandana, the elder sibling is a singer and pianist/ keyboardist, and a student of Augustine Paul. “We don’t just want to be film-based, but independent and experimental music is also something we want to delve into. Vagu is a multi-instrumentalist — one of the country’s few female bass guitarists and knows sound engineering as well; not to mention we have our studio, to keep up-to-date on the latest in the field. We have terrific chemistry too — I sit down with the lyrics and start composing, while Vagu strums the guitar along … and voila, it works!” smiles Vandana.

A.R. Reihana and Bhavatharini remain some of the few female composers in Kollywood — but the sisters are determined to break the trend and make the industry sit up and notice them, says Vagu — “Language isn’t a barrier for us. Recently, I even took some of Bharathiyar’s verses and composed them into song. The idea is to keep reinventing ourselves
constantly and keep listeners guessing.”

Vandana adds, “Even if we do covers, we want to ensure they have our unique take on them. Exposure is limited, yes, in this field. But we are more than confident we have the talent and attitude to come through. We are already working on a couple of offers, and more exciting stuff is in store!”