Suspecting a ‘copy-paste job’, Abhishek Kapoor rejected Amit Trivedi’s Kai Po Che album initially: ‘It became awkward’

Amit Trivedi recalled the 'awkwardness' that grew between him and Kai Po Che director Abhishek Kapoor.

Kai Po Che!, directed by Abhishek Kapoor, starred Sushant SIngh Rajput, Rajkummar Rao and Amit Sadh in the lead. (Photo: SonyMusicIndiaVEVO/ YouTube)

Music composer and singer Amit Trivedi recently shared his experience of creating the soundtrack album for director Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che! (2013). The film starred late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, alongside Rajkummar Rao and Amit Sadh. Trivedi has revealed that when he first shared the music of the movie with Abhishek, it was rejected.

Appearing on The Music Podcast, Trivedi said that he and Kapoor took some time to get used to each other’s process, as it was the first time that they were working together. After being moved by the filmmaker’s narration, Trivedi created the album in less than a week, which left Kapoor shocked. He said, “Kai Po Che was his first film with me, Rock On he had done with Shankar – Ehsaan – Loy. He didn’t know my process and neither did I know (his process). Something inspires you and something clicks. It just resonates… When he came to the studio, he narrated (the story), I loved his passion, I loved his energy. It captivated me — the way he narrated, the way he spoke. When you thoroughly get inspired, things just happen, and I made the songs in 3-4 days. Manjaa, Subharambh, Meethi Boliya were ready… In less than a week’s time I called him and told him, ‘Sir, the album is ready.’ He didn’t know how to react. I am too naive, I didn’t know you have to wait… For me, if it’s done, it’s done. It just happens, there is no calculation, no formula.”

Trivedi then also opened up about how the filmmaker suspected that he had “copy pasted” the music, which lead to some “awkward moments” between the two of them. He shared, “Manish, the UTV producer, told me that he (Kapoor) thinks tu chipka ke de raha hai (you are giving copy-paste work) and I was wondering ‘Chipkana kya hota hai (what is copy-paste)?’ I didn’t even know that. You gave me such a wonderful brief, narrated the story so well, I was inspired, so it came out… But he said, ‘No, I don’t want it,’ and felt I did not work hard. So I had to convince him that it’s not like that, I didn’t know what else to do. I told him, ‘Sir, I have worked hard to create this. These are the scratches, just see if you like it or not,’ to which he said, ‘It’s great, but it doesn’t work like this.’ He was assuming that if I take more time, I’d create something even better. But that’s now how it works, nothing great comes out by taking too much time. Your first instinct is the most important. Full stop, anything above and beyond that is guesswork.”

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“Suddenly there was a strange conflict, and I didn’t know what to do. It has become a bit awkward between me and Abhishek Kapoor and Manish… after three days I get a call from Abhishek telling me that he couldn’t stop humming the tunes. ‘I can hear it when I am sleeping, when I am awake’, he said, and I told him that is it!” Trivedi added.

Trivedi then shared that this experience taught him a lot. He said, “But I have learnt a lesson from that situation, as soon as I get a brief, I don’t call them for a month even if I have made the song in a day…now that the song is ready, now let’s take a vacation (laughs).”

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