Complete CONNECTIVITY

I do not see things that way. For 24 hours,I am stuck in my own circle of work. My major concern is my work,and how to improve my music and energise it. I am surer than ever before that music is going to drastically change now,and that we will go on a rewind towards melody,Indian music and our roots. Or maybe there will be a new route that will come and completely blow everyone,like what happened with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak in 1988 and Roja in 1993. But I definitely can comment on my own music today I now need a change. I cannot say in which direction maybe new voices,instruments,whatever,but I must continue being excited about my work!

Personally,I have never believed that there is no competition. Maybe others,at the moment,are not connecting with the people as often as I do.

And what is this connectivity all about?

I think that it is a lot to do about luck. We certainly cannot calculate and make music,especially film music. My calculations are always restricted to giving a song the touch of my style or pattern,but I certainly do not sit down to compose a melody with a strategic approach I wont be able to do so even if I tried. But I follow certain basic rules: I have to like my own song first. And the strange paradox is that I do not think in that sense of the audience because my whole aim is to live up to the film and not let down any filmmaker who comes to me. That is the most important part. On the other hand,I listen my own song as if I am a collegian or any music lover hearing it.

You mentioned the word luck.

The luck aspect comes in the fact that my taste and sensibility perhaps matches most with the common man.

It cant be that simple!

Its really as simple as that nothing more! As I said,I react to my song as an audience and not as a composer. Yes,there is one point that you could say may be working for me: I dont disturb or break the flow when a melody naturally comes to me. I do not add something just to show off. Maybe everyone does not think that way,but like we have discussed in earlier chats,I keep a melody simple. Even my musicians find them too simple or simplistic,but I think those are the songs that connect the best with the audience. I also dont try to either follow a trend or change it. We cannot calculate that either. But if I feel bored with my own style,like I am feeling now,I try and do something different. If all factors fit in,a change comes!

Despite your consistency,the critics have never been on your side.

But thats the conscious choice I made right at the beginning of my career! You have to choose between approval from a small section of the media and a level of acceptance where people love your songs. That is the reason why I never show off. Neither did any of those who got mass acceptance.

And yet,such composers are called restricted,even if they actually show a broader range,like you too did in Bhool Bhulaiya,Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani,Jab We Met and many more,including the Navratri song in the just-released Aakrosh.

I cannot stress too much on factors other than whether I like my song and my director is happy.

How do you actually compose a melody?

I start approaching a situation the way I have been briefed. I compose on my guitar and most of the time the basic germ is settled first. Then we get to the individual lines and fine-tuning. I write dummy words,but since my Hindi is poor,most of the actual dummies are written by my assistant Ashish. I also prefer,if possible,to fix the phonetics with a key word that fits the needs of the song,like the word Teri in Teri ore 8211; Mayur worked on this line after I sang Tera tera. I tell my lyricists to work around such key sounds and look after the language and the meanings. Phonetics has a major role in a songs acceptance. There are directors like Anurag Basu and Imtiaz Ali who are involved from scratch in the creative process,right from the basic melody that I play on the guitar. Others want the complete song,sometimes even with a complete orchestra,before they can understand it. A lot also depends on how much time the director gives you. Most filmmakers lack time and prefer a readymade product that they can quickly accept or reject. But I do not have a bank of tunes,which I know is very bad at a practical level!

What about songs that are not approved? You must be having a bank of those.

Thats true. For the song Zara zara touch me from Race,I had offered four songs the original melodies of Bhool Bhulaiyas Hare Ram Hare Ram,Its rocking from Kya Love Story Hai and one more song as you can see,all of them became super-hits as well. In another case,the song Na hai yeh paana from Jab We Met was made from the first half of one melody and the second half of another! And the first half of the second melody finally became Teri ore!

This year,unlike the last two years,we have not had even one true musical from you.

Yes,I do feel sad about that,but what can I do? Milan Luthria is a musical filmmaker,so even an underworld film like Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai became a semi-musical. Crook,Aakrosh,Atithi…Tum Kab Jaoge?,Raajneeti in which I had one song,Badmaash Company et al are not musical films. The sad part is that I enjoy doing romantic musicals and none of my forthcoming films,except Mausam,are musicals all they need are item songs and fast numbers! There are many songs in Action Replayy but the film isnt a music-based subject. And what romantic scope can one have in Players,Agent Vinod,Thank You,Desi Boys and others? I have only one choice convert them into musicals the way Kalyanji-Anandji would do with Don and Saccha Jhutha! Someone even told me that this will actually get me greater credit!

Rahat Fateh Ali Khans prolific streak in Hindi cinema has a lot to do with you. You even made him sing the light Sab rishte naate in De Dana Dan and the full-on rock song Fakeera in Badmaash Company.

When I start liking a singer,I automatically begin singing a new composition in his style and voice,so I guess I subsconsciously also compose it with that artiste in mind. This has happened with Neeraj Shridhar and Rahatji and to an extent with Mohit Chauhan. Of course,KK,Sonu Niigaam and the others are always there as regulars. It is only when I compose female songs that I cannot think beyond a few voices. That is why I always prefer to do more male songs,but I want to change even that now!

You have signed two films with Salman Khan. What is your approach to his songs?

I have neither begun working on the music nor have I interacted with him on the songs I will be making. But I am looking forward to both Ready and Bodyguard.