‘I Like Norah Jones’

• Is it because Salman Khan has a problem with you?
Salman and I are still quite thick. We make a great team. I want to leave it at that.

• What’s the truth behind the alleged plagiarism for Murder?
I want to set the record straight. I didn’t record the song Jaanejaana. I don’t know how my name came on the CD. Some singer in either Bangladesh or Pakistan had recorded it. I even asked producer Mukesh Bhatt and Sa Re Ga Ma why they dragged my name into it. They said it just happened. Also, the song Kaho Na Kaho is only re-created by me. It’s been composed by Pakistani singer Aamir Jamal. That apart, I’m very happy that this year there have been only two silver jubilees—Murder and Main Hoon Na—and both have my music.

• Why are you so rude to the contestants in Indian Idol?
I don’t think I am rude. I’m honest. It’s always been my nature that if I don’t like something, then I say so. It’s nothing personal. If I tell a contestant, ‘please go back’, then it’s because I don’t want him to waste five years of his life.

• Aren’t you partial towards the girls?
I really like this question. Let me tell you that I have rejected more girls than boys. I tell them that you can charm me with your looks, but I need a voice to get hooked. There were three girls in Delhi who were very beautiful but all were rejected. My criteria for Indian Idol are simple: If you’re a girl, you need a fabulous voice and damn good looks. And if you’re a boy, you need a fabulous voice and reasonable looks.

• You seem to like it when contestants sing your songs.
Not at all. I’ve rejected so many people who’ve sung my songs. People sing my songs all over the world.

• Have you found any contestant who deserves a break?
There are five girls and three guys who will definitely get a chance from me. I don’t want to name them, but I’ve asked Sony to keep their contact numbers. One girl came up to me and told me, ‘whether I become the Indian Idol or not, you are my Indian Idol and I want to cut a disc with you’. I liked her attitude.

• Why is your fashion style so subdued on the show?
I’ve gone through my knitted cap and beads phase. But now I am getting the jhatka of doing something bizarre. Maybe I’ll wear one of those flashy shirts and tight jeans.

• The music of Bride & Prejudice was a disappointment.
If that were the case, then the film wouldn’t have been a sell-out in the UK. Also, there was a show of the film in New York last week and my song No Life Without Wife got a standing ovation. Gurinder Chadha is so happy with my work that she has asked me to compose the music for her husband Paul’s film, Mistress of Spices. I’ve also got an agent in the UK now.

• Why did Chadha cut out your role of a pundit from the film?
They found the song A Marriage Has Come To Town too long. They had to clip it. I had no objections.

• Name one recent song you like that you haven’t composed.
I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to listen to anything. But I think the song Main Yahan from Veer-Zaara is a great attempt. It has an old world charm.

• Isn’t it funny that the composer you’ve named (Madan Mohan) is not alive? Don’t you like any of your contemporaries?
I like Norah Jones.

• I meant a music composer for Hindi films.
I haven’t given it a thought. Everyone is doing such good work. I really have to work hard because now I am not the only one.

• Why do you carry your harmonium everywhere?
It’s my bread and butter. I have no qualms about carrying it around. I can compose a tune anywhere. I don’t need to go to a beach, or see the moon on my terrace, or go to Paris to compose a song. I might have an attitude in my way of talking but when it comes to my work, I am very humble.

• Where’s the weirdest place you’ve composed a song?
It was my desperation that forced me to trail producers to the loo or make a song on the bonnet of a car. But now I think the oddest place would be when I am flying 40,000 feet in the air.

Harneet Singh