T-Series earned 106 crores from the Munni Badnam Hui: Aadesh Shrivasta

MY FATHER BELONGS TO LUCKNOW

Composer Aadesh Shrivastava says with pride that he has Lucknow connections. "Woh kehte hain na, ki jis jagah ko father belong karte hain, wahin ke rehne wale kehlaye jate hain. My father belongs to Lucknow. Our family is from the Banda-Lucknow area of UP. In fact, we have quite a few relatives in the city. I have cousins living in the Motinagar area," says the singer, composer who was here a few days ago.

Sharing a childhood memory of his time spent in Lucknow, Aadesh tells us, "I must have been around 8-10 years old and all us cousins got together and went to Bhool Bhullaiya. And there, my cousins left me in the labyrinth, and I remember I was so scared that I howled and howled. It's one of those incidents that gets stuck in your head," says Aadesh with a laugh.

JO HOTA HAI, ACHCHA HOTA HAI

Aadesh has been collaborating with a lot of Western singers and musicians for albums and songs. He has worked extensively with singers Akon, Shakira, T-Pain, Soulja Boy, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Queen Latifa and also the London Philharmonic Orchestra. But this international recognition came accidentally to Aadesh. "It's all courtesy T -Series, the music company, which had banned me around 2003 from composing music in Bollywood. We had a disagreement on sharing royalties. Ab yahan India main kaam nahi tha so I headed West, and like they say, jo hota hai achhe ke liye hi hota hai, wahi mere saath hua. That's how I started composing music for international artistes," he says.

MUSIC COMPANIES KI DADAGIRI

Telling us more about his fight with music companies, Aadesh says, "Inn logon ne toh dadagiri macha rakhi hai. The government has passed a law that composers and lyricist should be given royalty for their songs, yet no one is following it. Yeh sab illegal kaam kar rahe hain. I heard that this young singer who has recently sung a lot of Bollywood hits, was locked in a room and forcibly made to sign a contract against sharing royalties by a music company. Nahi karta toh usko bhi ban kar dete. I also heard that now he is so disturbed that he is shifting base to Kolkata and giving up music. In the West, everything is so clear. Even before you record a song, a contract is signed with everything laid out clear. Every single person is given their due. But yahan toh sab manmaani karte hain. These music companies tried the same thing with Sunidhi Chauhan and Sonu Nigam, but they are senior and established artistes, so woh pressure main nahi aaye."

Aadesh goes on, "I don't know why film producers do not take any action. If the royalty and rights issue is settled, they will also benefit from it. You know T-Series earned 106 crores from the Munni Badnam Hui song. Sirf ek gaane se music company ne itne paise kamaye, poore album se toh na jane kitne kamaye honge!But how much did Arbaaz Khan get out of it?

Unko batane mein bhi shayad hichkichahat ho. But now, we music people - composers, singers and lyricists - are getting together and we are going to take legal recourse to end this monopoly. Also, most of us are now floating our own music companies, which will give artistes their due."

TV CHANNELS EXPLOIT YOUNG REALITY SHOW CONTESTANTS

Aadesh was the judge on several talent hunt shows on TV and was also offered to judge Indian Idol last year, but the musician refused. That's because he says it's against his ideology. "Mujhe achha nahi lagta the way these young singers are exploited by the channles and music companies. They are so bound by contracts that they can't do anything. There's not a single winner of any of these shows who is doing anything worthwhile. Children are made to wait for hours to sing and they go through so much, yet, in the end it's of no avail. Maine kuchh logon ko break diya, but I have my limitations," rues Aadesh.