Raags to RICHES

What is refreshingly surprising is the song’s huge success among the youth.
I think that it is nothing less than the moment of truth. It once and for all exposes the false claims of today’s tunesmiths and decision-makers in music that youngsters like only crappy music or Western stuff. It proves that when you give them good raag-based melody they will take to it like a thirsty man gulps down water! They have sent the clear message that Indian melody is so strong,and our raags so powerful that they do not need Western music if we keep giving them this kind of melody.

The music company has also talked about high sales across all formats.
There have been almost three crore downloads – across multiple sites,and including the free downloads,which is like a world-record. (Shows printouts from the ‘Net). Type Mora piya and about 4,120,000 results open on Google,2,400,000 on MSN Hotmail and 5,21,000 each on Altavista and Yahoo!
I have been invited to 11 colleges since the song came out,and the students there have asked me so much about the track. There have been a record number of accolades from my associates,from which Pyarebhai’s (Pyarelal of Laxmikant-Pyarelal) praises were of special value as he is a maestro and also because I have assisted him for years. I always keep him in my mind’s eye when I am working on any song! I wish Panchamda too had been around to voice his opinion on this song,for I have been involved when LP’s Sur-Sangam – the purest-ever classical film score – and many of R.D.Burman’s classical songs were recorded. Several classical stalwarts have praised me too – it’s great to get such izzat from those who always think that film composers corrupt music!

You composed outstanding raag-based songs earlier,like Baawri piya ki in Baabul and Tujh sang baandhi dor for Dev. But though appreciated,they never reached such heights. Why was that?
Apart from the fact that there is a right time for everything,they were not promoted anywhere like this song was by Prakashji and Sony Music.

Without learning classical music,how did you compose these songs?
The Aadesh Shrivastava who came to Mumbai and the composer of today are almost like two different people! I started learning classical music and raags after my early success as a music director. I must say that to really know your job you must know these aspects. Anyone can compose a catchy melody,but to work at it and turn it into a song that appeals and lives on,you need to have much more. I recently heard an old LP composition,Meherbaan mehboob from Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool – it had a very catchy mukhda and antara. But only a composer who knows his job can bring you back smoothly from the antara to the mukhda without jarring,unlike a lot of today’s tunesmiths who somehow pad up the gaps with some instrumental music because they do not know better! The way the song moved so beautifully from the antara back to the mukhda showed LP’s genius and their knowledge.
Let me also add one more point: without learning raags,I too have composed semi-classical melodies. When I made Rang deeni in Dev,and learnt Raag Darbari only later,I was shocked to know that my composition was in pure Darbari without a single note that wasn’t there in the raag (mishran). It was incredible! When I composed a Mata Bhent song in a T-Series album,Anuradha Paudwal was surprised that it was completely in Raag Pahadi. On the other hand, I deliberately made Baawri piya ki in Darbari as it was a suhaag raat song.
I also thank my religion for these achievements. Without any communal intention but just to state a fact,Hinduism is the only religion and culture jiske saath sangeet poori tarah se jooda hai – even the traditional songs made centuries earlier are automatically and miraculously based on raags that came to light later! Like the songs at the Ayyappa Temple down South are in pure Raag Todi. There are untrained folk artistes in Rajasthan who are masters of the Maand.

How have things changed for you after this song?
I have got some good offers. I was never insecure because I come from the LP-RD school of thought where you know your jobs thoroughly and think in terms of your work being your greatest tool and biggest weapon. I have been as much appreciated for my singing,but I will sing only selectively,both for myself and if anyone else approaches me. I always feel that professional singers are best to take a great composition to the audiences. And even today we have great singers like Sonu Niigaam,Shaan and KK – and many,many others.
It is my firm belief that a lot of today’s songs are spoilt not just by untrained music makers but also by music directors excessively singing themselves,seeking singers outside our country or using those who are not singers at all. Mora piya has shown that nangaa gaana ab nahin chalega – ek gaane mein rooh (soul) honi chahiye. I hope that the song changes things more for the discordant scenario today rather than just for me.

What are the projects that you are doing now?
I am doing Gaurang Doshi’s new film and also a film and a TV series called Bo Mammo,an international project where both film and series are in 3-D. Talks are on for some background scores as well.
Outside films,I am doing the Hanuman Chalisa,which I have composed in Raag Ahir Bhairav. A huge ensemble of male singers have sung on this album led by the one and only Amitabh Bachchan,with names like Sonu,KK,Shaan,Suresh Wadkar,Udit Narayan,Kumar Sanu,Hariharan,myself and others. I am also doing an album on peace called Aman. Rashid Khan,Amitji again and I are singing on this album.

You have also been a pioneer in international collaborations,but never trumpeted about this.
I have collaborated with Wyclef Jean,Shakira and Wyclef’s brother Jerie Wonda,one of the biggest producers. I have done both shows and albums abroad. There are two great incidents that I must narrate: I am used to chanting Vakratunda mahaakaay to myself before beginning work. When Wyclef heard it,he wanted me to sing the lines on a show that had virtually no Asians in the audience. As an R&B great,he loved it – and we don’t value our own music here! On such shows,I never present my film hits. When I collaborate with them doing their stuff,it is with a mix of our folk,some Punjabi songs,sargam and raags with even a jugalbandi with Wyclef and no falsetto note or English words. And our music gets a standing ovation everytime!
The other incident was when I had my first-ever appointment with Wyclef,as I wanted to use his studio for some work I was doing there. Between our phone talk and my arrival,he had surfed the Net for info on me,and finding that I had done some 80-plus films,told me later that he expected that I must be owning at least two jet planes and expected me to arrive in one! But I told him that royalties in India for musicians are a different ball-game altogether!!