The Score Magazine July 2017 issue | Page 17

‘Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan’ would be lapped up so widely across the board and that our music would go this far. ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ and ‘Isi Life Mein’ were our first movies as music directors. It was our maiden break and both the flicks I remember, had happened to release together. So our journey somehow kicked off with these two features. Do you subscribe to the present-day trend of actors doing their own playback? Which actor do you think has done most justice to his/her assigned song? We are delighted with the fact that actors are taking a shine to singing. Why not! We are nobody to judge or decide who can sing and who can’t. If actors are lending their vocals with good responses in return, then that’s certainly wonderful. It is open to the people’s court and the verdict tilts towards actors making a difference over the microphone. For there are numerous people who are embracing this idea which is discernibly on a rising graph. Fact is, we are a nation of billion people, so we can’t restrict anyone from taking the plunge into something hatke. There are a lot of people who like the way Alia Bhatt sings or love the way Salmanbhai has sung our Hangover track inKick. Also actor Riteish Deshmukh did a Marathi song with us. People hero worship the stars and actors, who they consider their idols. So if they are liking this quality of their favourite performance artistes, what’s the harm! Many singers have taken to acting and they have been applauded for their performance skills. Singers like Himesh Reshammiya and Honey Singh have been accepted when they took to acting. See, this is a period of multitasking. Therefore anyone at free will may explore the varied options at his/her disposal. Today all are hell-bent to step out of their cosy shell and prove their mettle to the world. I mean who would have fancied Salman Khan’s Hangover to gain so much popularity everywhere, albeit the actor has superbly done full justice to the song. It did turn out really well. Tell us something about your forthcoming Bollywood scores? We have already done one movie with Tiger Shroff in which Kanika Kapoor has sung a song. Our whole team has been revived once again with this film called Munna Michael. You will hear it as soon as it releases. There are many projects in the pipeline but we would like to talk about only those that are nearly on the verge of seeing the daylight. In Bollywood, you are either contract-bound by a project or not sure until it matures and you get to sign on the dotted line as things keeping shifting very fast. You can’t take far-fetched ideas for granted over here. And honestly, we don’t believe in divulging the details unless something concrete pans out. Your trio with music director Anjjan Bhattacharya broke after 13 long years of successful joint- ventures. Any specific reasons for parting ways with him? Anjjan is still a brother. It is very rare that you opt for separate routes and yet remain on good terms. We bade goodbye to him on a healthy note with sheer positivism. We remember having joined hands together in 2010 and ever since, forged a strong bond. Our first movie as music directors was Do Dooni Char and then we split in 2015. So it’s been five long years of musical partnership and a beautiful journey together. Anjjan is a very sweet guy. And he had his solid ground to move on as a soloist. Everyone wants his own entity, characteristic traits and individuality to come through his music because each has his own style. And Anj jan was no different on this score. We totally respected his decision in the way like your own sibling comes and tells us you that he wishes to have his own business and leave behind his mark on it. We don’t think anybody should have a problem with this or even attempt to spark unnecessary controversies surrounding it. We did let him go but not before a happy farewell and a bear hug. We promised to be always there for him and vice-versa. And that’s how it has been. Did you undergo any technical tutelage in music? Is it necessary for every musical aspirant? No, we didn’t learn anything formally as such. Professionally, we would assimilate all the subtle nuances on the field itself. You see, our life is totally driven by passion with which I perceive, you can absorb almost anything on the earth. During our preparatory time, say 20 years ago, when we were seriously shaping up as future music scorers to translate our dreams into reality, there were hardly any good music schools available or proper career counsellings to guide us all the way. We were clueless about our forthcoming pursuits. And choosing music was not a lucrative job avenue for us then. When finally the craft took us into its fold and we started getting work, climbing the steps of a music school or enrolling for a course was way too late in the day for us. But we stuck to our guns and had very quickly imbibed what was required of us. We opened up our own studio and have realised that the best way to learn is via practical experiences. However in today’s time, the scenario has visibly become very competitive. So it definitely pays off if you are well equipped with some form of training or the other. This is because there is no excuse for errors and one must stand a step ahead of others to lead the charge. It’s good that people are starting early these days and so most come ready to face the volatile nature of this industry’s ways. Thus, there will be less wastage of time if one enter the sector as a young fresher as the early bird catches the worm. Do you find the concept of multiple tunesmiths toying with the same movie comfortable? Or does it hinder one’s creative space and individual sensibilities? Multiple tunesmiths aboard a single project are working wonders. It kind of commenced with us with the movie Boss. (A.R.) Rahman sir’s song was there and ours too. Even some other music directors pitched in with their scores. We think this is a great concept as it churns out a colorful album with different flavours and aromas. We also love the idea that our name gets affixed with different brands. I think it’s a far better proposition if your name flashes out in 10 different films, instead of you doing 10 songs in only two films. Instead of a couple of banners and two posters, the number burgeons to a dozen diverse ventures. The work-base also amps up as you get to contact different directors, producers, stars and technicians. This is truly satisfying for us. You see, right balance is the key to life and variety on one’s graph adds more spice and dimensions to it. If this was hampering the composers’ creative liberties, then they wouldn’t be really hogging for it. The trend is definitely working and the proof lies in the concept’s prosperity. The Score Magazine highonscore.com 15