Azlan Sheriffdeen is a man of many talents: He’s the director of Friday Entertainment, Podhub, WES Music, and Replay Sports Technologies; has video-directed and produced over 300 commercials and videos for top brands and personalities; and, not to mention, has scored a top 20 Australian album charts debut for Don’t Funk With Me by Alston koch in 2012. Locally, he has produced and has song writing credits for some modern-day classic Sri Lankan hits like Chandrayan Pidu by Daddy, Giniyam Rae by Iraj Weeraratne, Yayata Payana by Prihan Madappuli, Mayavee Aaa by Kirshan Perera, and Awa Soya by Asanka Sahabandu.
Having made a name for himself both internationally and locally, Sheriffdeen’s most recent achievement was producing the theme song I’m running for the internationally acclaimed film Night Walk. Officially released to the public on 15 June after being picked up by Lionsgate Productions, the movie – starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Patrick Kilpatrick, and more – has won two awards at Prague Film Festival and was showcased at the festival back in 2019.
Brunch spoke to Sheriffdeen for more insight into his productions for the movie and the movie itself.
Giving us an idea of what the movie is about, he explained: “It showcases the story of a white collar playboy, falsely imprisoned for his girlfriend’s death, and his subsequent struggles with violent prison politics while trying to find justice for him and the deceased.”
He said the name of the movie, Night Walk, comes from the fact that the main character’s girlfriend was killed during a nightly stroll they took. From our understanding, the movie revolves around action with a hint of romance from the two star-crossed lovers. Sheriffdeen added that the movie also tackles important topics like racism and religious conflicts.
The theme song I’m running was written and produced by Sheriffdeen, and sung by Frederick James Koch, who is also a key actor in the movie. Besides that, there are two more songs, Always Meant To Be and Don’t Know Why, written and produced by Sheriffdeen and Alston Koch, that are featured in the movie credits and within the movie.
We asked him how the opportunity to produce the theme song for the movie came about, to which he commented that his business partner was presented with a chance to play a small role in the movie. With that he found out that the directors were looking for a producer to do the music. After he suggested me for this aspect, I was selected and it was a huge honour.
The main genres of the song are pop and electro, while it features undertones of rock as well. Talking about the lyrics behind the theme song, Sheriffdeen explained that the song describes the feeling of losing a loved one. “It’s like a relationship ending with no closure and you’re not sure exactly what is going on. The song is called I’m running because the main character is running to find answers, while pushing through the dark unknown.” He commented that the song is relatable in any context, if you really think about it.
Sheriffdeen went on to share with us that he and James Koch worked on the song together when the latter had flown down to Sri Lanka in 2019. “We wrote it together, produced it, and recorded James’ vocals while he was here. Thereafter, over the last few years, it’s gone over about 25 changes,” he said, adding that when a song is made for a movie, there are about 30 to 40 critics sharing their opinion on it, so the song has to be tweaked to fit each one’s liking.
When asked if he has anything more coming up, Sheriffdeen commented that he has two more singles he produced, coming up for this year, by the names Mage Adare by Gypsies and Api Natamu by Corrine Almeida, which we will look forward to.
