Flying high

The standout songs are the KK twin towers,Zindagi do pal ki and Dil kyun hai mera,which take us back to the era of in-depth melody,lyrics and soulful vocals. But we sense a subconscious yearning for Kishore Kumar in both.
I do not deny that Kishoreda’s vocal texture and prowess will always be missed. We always miss giants and it always saddens us somewhere that we will never again hear a new song by Rafisaab,Roshansaab,Laxmikant-Pyarelal or Panchamda. But though most of the trendy male voices are soulful,some of them lack talaffuz,or perfect pronunciation,and that mars the soul of a song. And because my generation has listened to perfection we cannot compromise or relish such deficiencies. This is why KK came in. His singing is simple,effortless and touching.

You recorded last with KK eight years back. Why the long gap?
Sometimes it takes a while to understand a singer. I was impressed then by his Tadap tadap from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The two songs he sang for me,Meri jaan and I wish you a great life- both from Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage – were not solos,and they did not work. It’s natural that we get attracted to popular songs and then gauge the singer.

The songs are so different from his norm.
Zindagi do pal ki comes in the second half of the film,and my brother Rakesh Roshan likes to have peppy songs there as the audience is eating popcorn! I was sure that the song would be rejected or even not understood in these commercial times,for it was a tune I had just made from the heart one day,not for a specific film. But when Rakesh,director Anurag Basu and Hrithik heard it,they unanimously said “Mil gaya gaana,yeh gaana hit hai!” And the tune for Dil kyun yeh mera shor kare was composed even before I began giving music for films! Rakesh,Hrithik and I had even considered the tune for many earlier films,but I guess that every song has its destiny. And from my original dummy lyrics,the words shor kare were retained as they seemed to be the musical pivot.

We need to know about the unique Kites in the sky,which Hrithik Roshan is singing in English after the small Hindustani recitation he did for you in Aap Mujhe….
It was Anurag and Rakesh who decided that Hrithik should sing Kites in the sky,which is a difficult song to sing,as it is in the 7-8 beat. 7-8 is almost never heard in India and is a rarity even among contemporary Western singers – probably only 10 songs to date must be known. I have also gone a step further – the song leaves the 7-8 groove and comes back to it! This is also the first time that English and Spanish lyrics are heard in a single song. Therefore,Hrithik faced a real challenge,but rose to it.

And Hrithik’s singing seems flawless. What sort of effort went into it?
Initially,Hrithik learnt basics like Do re mi from his co-singer Suzanne,who sang the Spanish portions of the song. Hrithik is very dedicated about everything he does,but when he stood in front of the microphone he found that he was not able to reach the song’s pitch and nuances. He was not only puzzled but dejected after the practice he had put in. That’s when I told him not to get upset but act from within when singing the song. I made him recall the song’s situation and got him in the mood. Actors have the strong asset of expression ingrained,and when he finally sang the song,Suzanne had tears in her eyes.

Hrithik also suggested the trance track Fire and made you listen to such music before you composed it.
Hrithik had collected his trance favourites and told me to listen to them,after which I came up with Fire and he liked what I made,but he was very upset when none of the singers we tried out on the song satisfied him. It was the last day of our studio booking,and it was then that he heard my version. He then insisted that I sing the song myself because I had caught the essence. Hrithik cares a lot for his music,and with success,his involvement has increased. During the making of Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai,he never uttered a word!

Vishal Dadlani has sung with you on this track and also sung Tum bhi ho wahi. Did he contribute creatively in any way?
I think Vishal’s punchy voice has the nuances of the singers of yesteryears. Vishal and Shekhar are like family friends now and even Shekhar was always present when Vishal was. They had their suggestions,and as I said,music is teamwork where if the song is being bettered, I had no ego issues.

Your score lacks two popular aspects – an equal female presence,and lip-sync.
Barbara Mori was our original choice as Hrithik’s co-singer in Kites in the sky as well. But she declined,saying that her people would not take kindly to her doing what she wasn’t good at. But as you can see,there is little scope for a female voice though Anushka Manchanda too has sung on Fire.
Coming to the lip-sync part,the original idea was to include songs in the English version of Kites,and lip-sync would not have been accepted. But now Brett Ratner has done the international edit,and it does not have songs at all! I do agree that lip-sync is something that Hindi films should not completely jettison,because that is our USP. But we have always had great background songs and I do not think that it affects me as a composer,or limits me in any way. And Anurag Basu too does not prefer too much lip-sync.

So how was it simultaneously working with an additional force in Anurag besides your brother and Hrithik?
My brother and he were in sync,because Anurag knew what kind of music was preferred by my brother and Hrithik and we all knew of Anurag’s rock preferences. My orchestration had to be a little different,which is why I had different arrangers in various songs – a first for me. But whatever decisions we took were unanimous and there was no friction. It was all ego-free effort and open discussion about incorporating ideas and suggestions. In my time,I have had to interact with filmmakers who said ridiculous things like “Ghanti nahin baji. Kuch kar dijiye”,so it was refreshing that Anurag was not only very clear but also open in his approach.

You have no other assignment. Have you decided to work only in home productions?
It’s not a policy! If people want me intensely,and give me the time and freedom needed,why should I not work outside? I have composed a song for the Commonwealth Games now. I was to do a film for a current big-name filmmaker but they wanted songs at too short a notice. He understood and told me that he will look forward to doing a film together one day.