And then GOD walks in…

Which is how it used to be in the past. But when professional associates are buddies,are there cons to the many pros?
Vishal: The biggest pro is that we never feel we are at work. We are enjoying ourselves. If you can call it a ‘con’ it is that we can get angry with each other and go on to voice gaalis!
Shekhar: Yes,we are in the same room working towards the same objective,so a fight is a part of the work day. But the absolute comfort at working with people who believe in us is something that cannot be described.
Vishal: And we treat a film as ours. We never clear a song even if it could be one percent better. If we are not happy,we just delete the song – from our system. We do not believe in offering it to someone else later,because the song has been made with a specific brief. But when God walks in,the right song happens.

But that must lead to a waste of so many good compositions.
Vishal (Shrugs): Yeah,but what good is a composer if he cannot keep creating new tunes? We can use some of those in an album,but we never offer them for another film.

How do you compose a song? Is it done in the presence of the filmmaker,star etc.?
Vishal: Only in rare cases. Once a director who trusts us gives us a brief we like to be alone while creating a composition. So at that point of time,it’s just Shekhar with his guitar and I with my keyboard – which I can play enough to compose! (Smiles)
Shekhar: And this strange energy is there to help us,as Vishal said.

You talked about artistic satisfaction. But in a popular art,isn’t commercial appreciation important – in other words,shouldn’t the listener like the song too?
Vishal: For us,two things matter most. First,the director should be happy with what we have given him. Secondly,the song should be good standalone,not just as a part of a film.
Shekhar: Our assistants and arrangers,recording engineer and staff are ruthless enough to tell us on our faces if what we make isn’t good enough. Then there are some friends we trust.
Vishal: So for us,even if 25 people like a song,there’s a fair chance that the people will like it as well.

India versus Bharat is a valid thought-process that’s come in the last few years – that come film or film music,a certain disrespect is being seen towards audiences,except for the metro youngsters and the wannabe ‘with-it’ crowd.
Shekhar: We don’t agree. Pushing boundaries educates listeners that yeh bhi ho sakta hai,like I discover every time Pentagram performs.
Vishal: And there are no laws of music,for in the end music is love. If it brings a smile on a person’s face,it’s a good song. But we cannot ignore the listener,and we never think that only a certain fraction will like a song.

On the other hand,some of your really fresh work has gone unnoticed because the films did not make it,as in Cash,Aladin,Bhoothnath,Tashan and Ta Ra Rum Pum.
Vishal: Yes,but the songs of all the films except Aladin and Bhoothnath were not only popular but highly appreciated.

You keep surprising us with songs completely outside your groove like Sajnaji vaari vaari (Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.),Kyoon aage peeche (Golmaal – Fun Unlimited),Dhoom tana and Dastaan-e-om shanti om (Om Shanti Om),Falak tak chal saath mere (Tashan) and Saiyan re (Ta Ra Rum Pum). How do you manage this?
Shekhar keep discussing lots of music all the time. We keep listening to old music,bizarre music,mad music – the works. It is God’s blessings that we can compose so effortlessly when someone needs songs like these. We have to give credit where due. Indian folk and Indian classical music are the fountainheads of so much of our music. (Kalyanji-) Anandjibhai is a family friend. He has passed on so much knowledge of not just film but also folk and classical music to us. Then listening to Shankar-Jaikishan,R.D.Burman or Laxmikant-Pyarelal is itself an education.
Vishal: Old compositions were always based on raags. Shekhar has learnt classical music from Ustad Niyaz Ahmed Khansaab while I have learnt sporadically from here and there. But our old film songs are an education by themselves,because we can identify so many raags only because of the great songs that have made with them,and that makes understanding the raags simpler.

What is also creditable is how you get into the groove of a vintage kind of composition and avoid influences or notes from any older song.
Vishal: Influences can and do happen. But when we realise it,it’s delete time again! See,Mumbai is the best place to be – we have all the roots here and exposure to music of all kinds from around the world. And directors play a key role in music. Rohit Shetty,for example,gave us clear visuals on how his song would be filmed in Golmaal… and how the characters and frames would look,which part would be in colour and which in black-and-white. So composing Kyoon aage peeche was very easy.

Shekhar,you are not singing outside like Vishal does.
Shekhar (Laughs): No one calls me! And Vishal is a damn good singer. Having said that,I must remind you that I sang Yeh zindagi bhi in Luck By Chance for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

And at a rough guess,Vishal,you must have sung not less than 20 songs outside for assorted composers from Rajesh Roshan to Pritam. You even wrote a song for Pritam’s Hattrick.
Vishal: I had written a song for Milan Luthria for Taxi No. 9-2-1-1 that Milan wanted for Hattrick. As for singing,I am a fluke,bhoola-bhatka singer who sings for friends,which thankfully in this generation,applies to almost all the current composers. Rajesh Roshan is like a legend for me,so if he calls me for Krazzy 4 and Kites it’s an honour! Vishal Bhardwaj made me piggyback on Sukhwinder’s and his vocals in Dhan te nan for Kaminey. Newbies like Hanif Sheikh in Paathshaala and Ankur Tewari in It’s A Wonderful Afterlife called me to sing and so did Bappi Lahiri who sang for us in Taxi No. 9-2-1-1.
So for me,it’s about having fun and about respect and friendship. And you do get to learn a lot. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy,especially,make you feel like the greatest singer in the world. The atmosphere is like a party to the extent that you feel you can finish the song in five minutes! And someone like Vishal Bhardwaj guides you so subtly that you don’t realise you have been guided!

Like Kalyanji-Anandji,you have made a habit of making a lot of stars sing,down to Ranbir Kapoor in Anjaana Anjaani. But do you plan to employ other composers’ voices?
Shekhar: We have used Shankar Mahadevan,Bappida,Kailash Kher and even Salim Merchant. And we have taken a promise from Vishal Bhardwaj that he will sing for us – as a singer,he was simply amazing in his songs.
Vishal: And for the record,Ranbir has just done some spoofy recitation and not sung a full-fledged song like Amitabh Bachchansaab,Abhishek or Sanjay Dutt have. But he was mindblowing and way beyond our expectations.

Are you open to using singers from older generations?
Vishal: Not really. We have nothing against them,but our space does not match. Our filmmakers are also young guys who are making very contemporary subjects and they prefer young,in fact,as many new voices as possible along with today’s best singers.

Finally,the cliché. Which are your films to come?
Shekhar: Farah Khan’s Tees Maar Khan,Anubhav’s and Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One,Kunal Kohli’s Break Ke Baad,I Hate Luv Stories and yes,the animation film Arjun.
Vishal: We were talking about voices. Arjun is one score you will love. We have a mad song in which we have used lyricists Swanand Kirkire and Piyush Mishra as playback singers. At the end of the day,we like to work with clean,good people so that life is free of stress! And yes,as composers we must be able to work on anything and with any artiste from an Akon to a Rajasthani folk singer!

So how was the Akon experience?
Vishal: Unbelievable. He gave us two or three options to sing what we had composed for him,keeping his style in mind because we have always been his fans. And he even sang some of the lines in Hindi. I was the co-singer and also wrote the lyrics and he will be singing his lines on screen for Ra.One.