I first got in touch with Jeff Rona (who has worked for films such as Phantom, God of Water and Traffic III), in October, 2015. He got excited about the project when I showed him the script and the story board of the film. He was particularly thrilled by the cultural background of Veeram. He suggested that we create a theme song, which is a rarity in Indian cinemas but forms the soul of many Hollywood movies. Veeram’s plot has certain universality. Macbeth is a tragedy of ambition but the hero is seen as a brave figure. Chekavar (warriors of northern Kerala, and the protagonist of Veeram, Chandu, is a Chekavan) are brave figures who live their lives on the tip of their swords. There is a similar pattern of expression and philosophy in Macbeth and Veeram. Once we decided to have a theme song to capture the essence of the film, we started searching for a singer. Many famous names were considered and finally Kari’s name was zeroed in because we wanted a haunting voice like her. In Hollywood, normally the singer writes the lyrics. The lyrics of ‘We will Rise’ have been written by both Kari and Jeff. The song got its complete feel when it met with Kari’s voice. We were sure about its success.