‘Anurag Basu wanted me to compose for Saaya too, but Mahesh Bhatt didn’t want to bet on a rank newcomer’: Pritam

Do you remember when you first met Anurag Basu?

When I moved to Mumbai after FTII in 1998-99, I met a school friend who was already working in the film industry. One day, he asked me if I can make a song for a horror TV show Anurag Basu is directing. That’s when I first met him, he had a red gamchha around his neck. Then we did a lot of serial title songs together, like Manzilein Apni Apni (2001) and Miit (2003). Then we landed up staying in the building. That’s when we started bonding. Anurag tried to get me into Saaya (2003) also, but none of my films hadn’t released then. So Mahesh Bhatt (producer) didn’t want to trust a rank newcomer. Anu Malik was already working with him then. Before Gangster (2006), my work in Dhoom (2004) had released so that became the first film we did together.

Why do you keep going back to working together?

He’s very clear about what he wants. We trust each other blindly. He’s a full genius. If you see him now, he looks like Satyajit Ray from a side angle. Unka aashirwad aa gaya hai ab ispe (laughs). He knows every layer of filmmaking, from camerawork to edit. He also has tremendous faith in his technicians. Any movie he makes, I like being a part of that process. He has a very good music and lyric sense.

Do you also connect on the fact that neither of you wants to give up on bettering their product till the delivery date?

Yeah, of course! I’ll keep working till you snatch it away from me. Ultimately, the products we’re working on are for posterity. I’ve changed a lot of pieces in the OTT releases also, like in the case of Jagga Jasoos. I keep improving and layering till the OTT delivery. So yeah, our combination gets a little mad.

What is it about music that Anurag Basu gets right, that other filmmakers don’t?

He builds his narrative around music. He thinks in terms of music. Life.. in a Metro was one of the first anthologies of Hindi cinema. Multiple stories need a common thread. He could’ve made a narrator that thread. But he came up with a band which ties all the stories together. Similarly in Barfi!, both the protagonists didn’t talk with clarity, but with actions. So he told that story musically. Then he made Jagga Jasoos into a complete musical because Jagga stammers, so he sings. Even in a film like Ludo, which is more raw than emotional, he had music. A minimum of six songs have to be there in an Anurag Basu film. There are more in Metro… In Dino.

While doing Metro… In Dino, did you miss your band from the first film?

The person I missed the most was KK. He wasn’t a part of the band. James da, I haven’t worked with much. I’m in touch with Soham (Chakraborty) and Suhail (Kaul). It’s been 18 years, that’s a lot! But I got hold of Niladri Kumar (zitar player), who was also an integral part of the first part. This time, my band is with Raghav Chaitanya and Papon. Raghav is a very sweet and exuberant guy who loves collecting perfumes. I call Papon the king of the North-East. He’s very culturally rooted. So I didn’t feel the absence of James da, Suhail, and Soham.

Was Soham also a part of the band?

Yes, if you see, “In Dino” was sung by Roopkumar Rathod and Soham in different versions. Soham sang “In Dino” because he was in the band initially. But he couldn’t make it to the shoot when we were doing the band scenes. So Anurag asked me to lip-sync the song and said we’d record it later. But none of us could match how Soham sang it. In this film also, we have multiple singers singing the same song. There are different singers in the film version and the album version. Like in the first one, “Alvida” was sung by both James da and KK. “Baatein Kuchh Ankahi Si” was sung by Suhail and Adnan Sami. This is a good luck charm now.

Did the audience start recognizing you after Life.. in a Metro, since they also saw you in the film instead of just listening to your music?

Ya, because of that, people still think I’m a singer. Of course, I sing, but music direction is my primary identity. I always wanted to be a composer, I don’t want to be a singer. Whenever anybody meets me, even till today, they say, “Ye toh woh singer hai na.” Now, I’ve gotten tired correcting them. Now, I just smile and click pictures with them. If anyone refers to “In Dino”, I know they know nothing about me. Because they don’t see me on screen anymore, even in reality shows, they ask why I’m not doing anything these days. Aur yahan meri band baji padi hai. That song did give me recognition, but more as a singer, which I don’t want (laughs).

How much was the soundtrack of Life.. in a Metro an influence of Metro… In Dino?

See, even when I was doing Love Aaj Kal (2009), I told Imtiaz (Ali, director) no matter what we do, the audience is going to compare the album to that of Jab We Met (2007), since it’s you, me, and Irshaad Kamil (lyricist) coming back together. In the case of Metro, that comparison would be on steroids. In the 18 years since the first part, those songs have become a part of life. There’s no point competing with that. This is a new concept with new stories and new characters. In fact, Life.. in a Metro was a little darker. This is sweeter and lighter.

Is that why those songs were heavy on rock, as compared to the ones in Metro… In Dino?

When we did Life.. in a Metro, rock hadn’t entered Hindi cinema then. Rock On!! (2008) had also not released then. So there was no concept of rock or a band in a Hindi film. Now, rock has fused with synths worldwide to become alt rock. The bands who started as rock bands, their sounds have also evolved. So the basic language in Dil Ka Kya and Mann Ye Mera is still rock. But overall, the texture of pure rock has changed. So we’ve left the sound of the first Metro behind. This is a little more progressive in terms of sound.

The songs in Metro… In Dino are also influenced by ghazals, right?

We think of ghazal as a music genre. We used to refer to “Aabad Barbad” and “Hardum Humdum” (Ludo) as ‘ghazal EDM.’ After that, “Besharam Rang” (from Pathaan) and “Aaj Ki Raat” (from Stree 2) were also done in the same format. But ghazal is actually poetry. If a nazm is sung in semi-classical style, it’s stereotyped as ghazal. But why can’t I sing a ghazal in a modern way? Like in Barfi!, I did Ghalib’s “Dil-E-Nadaan” in a rock style, but it didn’t make it to the film. Similarly, in Metro… In Dino, we’ve used an established ghazal in Qaisarul Jafri’s “Tumhare Sheher Ka Mausam Bada Suhana Lage”. I added the hook of Zamaana Lage to it to keep it in the rock style. We’ve also done some Ghalib songs. We’d also done a Nida Fazli ghazal, but it’s no longer in the film. If we manage to make ghazals in the current format, they’ll become popular again. The harmonium image of a ghazal would go away. Rock bands would perform ghazals. There’ll be Reels made on them. Kids would lap them up.

Which is your favourite song from Life.. in a Metro?

“Alvida”, because I made it long before the film released. I had become the official music guy at the institute because no one else used to do music while studying sound there. I did the background score for all the diploma films. At FTII, I composed the song, which is an angry heartbreak song. Tumhe jana hai toh jao. You’ll miss me more than I’d miss you. Every party I’d go to, my friends would ask me to sing “Alvida”. It was an extended version with an outro, which wasn’t used in the film because of the length. A lot of directors liked that song, from Anurag, Rajkumar Hirani to Sanjay Gadhvi. In fact, even at the success party of Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (2002), Gadhvi asked me to perform Alvida because he wanted Aditya Chopra to listen to it.

You should’ve auctioned the song if there was so much demand among makers. Right?

(Laughs) Ya, I’d even called up Raju and told him when we were finally using “Alvida” in Life.. in a Metro. I’d never worked with Raju till then, but he introduced me to Sanjay Gadhvi because Raju was editing a movie for him then. Raju and I did a lot of ad jingles together. When I told Raju we’re using “Alvida”, he was fine with it. Because a song like that couldn’t have been used in mainstream Hindi cinema of that time anyway, especially in Raju and Gadhvi’s movies. Dhoom 2 mein toh nahi jaata Alvida (laughs)!

Have Aditya Roy Kapur and Anupam Kher also lent their voices in Metro… In Dino?

Yes, Anurag wanted to take this one a notch higher. So along with having a band as the narrator, this film also has characters singing like in a musical. A section of Anupam ji’s singing has been chopped off in the edit. But Adi’s is still there. He’s a mast singer. He was also a surprise for me as an actor. I didn’t know he’s so good! He hasn’t done many films where I’ve done the score, so I haven’t seen him perform much. In fact, the whole star cast is very good. Ali Fazal is playing me, who does jingles and is looking for a break, but is also a singer.

You’ve done both the old and new Love Aaj Kal, and the old and new Metro. But you’re also doing Ayan Mukerji’s War 2, which isn’t your baby. Vishal-Shekhar composed the songs of the first part in 2019. How do you then make it your own?

I don’t think it works for me. I walked into War 2 mostly for Ayan. The journey of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) and Brahmastra (2022) are among the most enjoyable in my career. The way I’m possessive about a brand which is mine, I’m not about sequels. It didn’t work in Tiger 3 (2023) either, although I was initially supposed to do Ek Tha Tiger (2012). I was working simultaneously with Victor (Vijay Krishna Acharya) and Kabir Khan for Dhoom 3 (2013) and Ek Tha Tiger respectively. It was getting very heavy to work on such big films within the same system. So Adi asked me to choose one of the two. I’d already composed a couple of films for Tiger since it had more scope for music because of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif’s romantic track. But Dhoom was also my baby so I went ahead with Dhoom 3. Then a song made for Tiger, Tera Deedar Hua, went into Jannat 2 (2012), and another, Rang Sharbaton Ka, went into Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013). They were options for the same situation in Tiger.

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Action films, in general, have less scope for music. But even otherwise, I want to pull back a little from commercial music because I’ve been doing it for 20 years now. My kids have grown up. I’ve hardly been around. My wife has brought them up. My son is leaving for college in the US. My daughter will also leave soon. I haven’t been able to be a part of their life decisions. I really feel bad I haven’t spent time with them. I’m a workaholic. I spend 200 days a year only at my studio, I don’t even go back home. I like working round the clock. But it’s all done now. I want to be an integral part of my kids’ journey now otherwise I’ll repent a lot. I’m already a gone case for my wife. Every song of mine is like a baby. But those kids also need attention (laughs).

Metro… In Dino releases in cinemas this Friday on July 4.