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| "If Priyanka would have been in some other country, she would have been a pop star by now" - Vishal | |
| By Joginder Tuteja, February 20, 2006 - 05:11 IST | |
| Young and happening - this is what could be used to describe not just the music but even the personality of Vishal Dadlani. He and his partner Shekhar have kick started 2006 on a good note with 'Taxi No. 9211' while today they are one of the most sought composer duo in the industry. Here we catch up with Vishal to know more about the way the composer duo work, their friendship with the fellow composers and their secret fantasy related to Priyanka Chopra! 2006 too seems to have begun on good note for you with the music of Taxi No. 9211 kicking off on a decent note. Yes, that's true. The music has opened to good reviews and the sales are on a right direction though the album has hit the market around 2 weeks ago. The music is good while the film too has shaped up pretty well. It was fun working on the music of 'Taxi No. 9211' and that reflects in the music. See, the movie has a twisted plot and the music needed to reflect the right mood that goes with it. Also, credit needs to be given to Milan (Milan Luthria - director of Taxi No. 9211) who has a good knowledge of music and has been exposed to various styles and genres. His inputs were quite helpful. But some of your fans who have been following your career graph since you begun feel that 'Jhankaar Beats' has been your best effort so far. 'Jhankaar Beats' is no doubt a milestone in our career. We got a situation that allowed us to pay homage to none other than R.D. Burman. Also, Sujoy [Sujoy Ghosh, the director of 'Jhankaar Beats'] has a certain madness that played an important role in the music of the film turning out to be the way it is presently. No one can take away the first time freshness that came along with the music and that's the reason people still talk about the film's music. Let me tell you a real life incident about a lady from the North India. I chanced upon meeting her and was pleasantly surprised to see her carrying an album that only had the songs from 'Jhankaar Beats' that she used to hear in a repeat mode. Ultimately, I believe that God decided and sent the tunes for 'Jhankaar Beats'! Your music for 'Home Delivery' (with the same director) missed going an extra distance as the movie sunk. Yes, but I am still proud of the movie's soundtrack, especially the romantic song 'Chand Ki Roshni' that keeps coming in the background. I believe Sujoy put his heart into the film and gave his best. But sometimes it happens that you try to do something fantastic and believe in a particular concept but that doesn't excite an audience. The best way to come out of it is to admit it and move on and this is what Sujoy has done. So that's great! How do Shekhar and you work together? Does one of you create the tune and other works on the arrangements or vice versa? Well, both of us compose, arrange, play instruments - pretty much everything. And apart from writing, you guys even sing. Isn't that so? Yup, we pretty much enjoy singing as well. When I began I was a part of a musical troupe called 'Pentagram' and in fact I still sing and perform with them. This troupe taught me everything that was required to know in music. Regarding singing for films, I remember I had come up with a scratch version of 'Tujhe Chand Chahiye' [Supari] in my voice. And this is when Shekhar insisted that we retain my voice only rather than getting someone else come up with a final version. Same happened in the case of 'Aazmaale' for 'Taxi No. 9211' for which Shekhar had come up with a scratch version. After hearing it I put my foot down that the song is going nowhere else and we are not going to change a single note in it. Sometimes some songs demand a specific voice and music just happens. In such a case it is best for everyone to retain it as it is! You seem to be interested in acting too now. [Laughs] You are talking about that small appearance in 'Right Here Right Now' [Bluffmaster]. You may not know but we were beaten up, chained and forced upon to make that appearance. We were just taken to the sets and asked to face the camera [chuckles]! But don't you think that today songs are more of packaged hits where choreography, sets and actors are major contributors to a song's success, a recent example being 'Right Here Right Now' [Bluffmaster]. Oh absolutely, no denying the fact. It is a collaborative effort that comes into play for the final product. For delivering as per one man's vision, you need to have everyone involved to set things right. The sets, the art, the choreography, the cinematography, the music, the actors - just about everything! I am sure that even 'Dus Bahane' wouldn't have been as big a hit as it is today if Abhishek and Zayed were not there in the song. And then singers K.K and Shaan. Or Anubhav Sinha [director of Dus] who had a vision about the whole song. This is why it is great to be with people like him, Farah Khan and the others who have a similar mindset and are not at all hackneyed. Between all these people, they have a vision to take things to a global level. In fact if we look at last few years or so, composers like you and Shekhar, Pritam and Salim-Sulaiman are giving a new sound of music to Bollywood on a consistent note. God is great and is defining what we do. Look at the kind of work that A.R.Rehman is doing. Now that's the dream we have. You want to be the one who should be setting the trend. I know it is pretty ambitious but this is what we aspire to do. How about the competition factor with the fellow composers? Hey, there is no negativity at all. In fact we, Pritam and Salim Sulaiman are quite close as friends. We get along pretty well and hang around too. In fact not just with them but we share a good rapport with Anand Raj Anand too. There are healthy vibes all around that makes this a good place to be. You seem to have a knack of turning actors into singers. Sanjay Dutt has sung the maximum songs with you while Abhishek Bachchan too has debuted in singing in your 'Bluffmaster'. Sanjay Dutt and we are in the same kind of music, mainly Blues. In fact we have been learning a lot from him. He is a lot into modern music and if we are watching a concert, he would tell us that, "This is the kind of song I want." In 'Tez Dhaar' [Musafir], each and everything about it had his inputs. He is such a trendsetter and the best part about the entire thing is that inspite of being in the industry for so long, he is so open and gives you all the freedom to compose the way you want. If you look at Abhishek or Saif, they are all aware about what's happening in international music. Now since their markets are huge, they want to be in the kind of films that are cool. The kind of films that are built on new ideas. And that's the kind of mindset they have for the music of their films too. So who's next in the pipeline after Sanjay and Abhishek? Oh, one voice that we would love to hear behind the mike is that of Priyanka Chopra. She is simply fabulous and if she would have been in some other country, she would have been a pop star by now. Something like J Lo. (Stresses on this) And I want you to quote me on that! Oh really!? But then why hasn't she sung a song so far? Well, she is just a bit apprehensive. But we will ensure that one day she debuts with us!
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