Sonu Nigam To Croon A Romantic Song For Shahrukh Khan In Raees

The music men

After making it to the Oscar long list for Best Original Score for Jal, composers Sonu Nigam and Bickram Ghosh are busy with a Saregama project, recreating 10 hits from classic Hindi films. In between they have also done the music for Happy Anniversary and the title song for Shekhar Ghosh's Chowky. A t2 chat...

Sonu, the song Sapna jahan from Brothers is still ruling the charts, with close to 1.75 million sing-alongs on YouTube...

Sonu: You know, the song came to me after a few others had tried it, maybe because it required a certain kind of expertise. And I've heard this about a lot of other songs that came to me later. The song Soniyo for Raaz went to nine singers before it came to me. It is interesting that the song that you like and people are raving about actually came to me after being tried by other singers (smiles).

And you are cool with that?

Sonu: I do wonder why they keep trying other singers when the song would sound appropriate in my voice. I thank all the singers who tried the songs but didn't sing (laughs). The song remained mine. What if someone else had sung it really well? It isn't fair. I should not be somebody's last option. If the song belongs to me, it should come to me.

What's next?

Sonu: I'm doing a nice romantic number for SRK's Raees, composed by Ram Sampath!

Bickram, tell us about the new Saregama album both of you are working on...

Bickram: We have recorded the song Jawan hai mohabbat from Anmol Ghadi. That song has been given a dynamic twist. It sounds gorgeous. The saxophone player George Brooks has played on that song (as a guest artiste). The idea is that each song should have a flavour of a certain culture, milieu. Everybody has heard these songs, but maybe not everyone remembers it. They sound so beautiful and they are all embedded in memory. When we make music that buzz has to be there.
Sonu: We were given a huge list from Saregama and we chose the songs.

After making it to the Oscar long list, what's the criterion now for choosing a film?

Sonu: We understand each other's temperament, and we don't need to go for anything mediocre. There's a lot of music we need to make, step by step, and we are starting with the Saregama album. The priority is to finish this album first. Also, we would like to collaborate with international artistes.

Bickram: Getting into the Oscar long list validated the fact that we are trying to do something different and that it was noticed at an international level. Jal gave us a sense of direction. Our legacy will be formed by the quality of work we are doing, and not with how many movies we scored for.

Sonu: We don't really decide on a style because if we do that, we will be doing something that's already been done. We make music with an open mind.

Is it difficult for you to reconcile with the current trends in Bollywood?

Sonu: I'm pretty much used to it. I've been through worse situations. At least today, I can say no. Today's scenario is not as bad. We have seen people who are super brilliant. Their contribution is immense and yet many are not known. So we are not really insecure about anything really. We both have seen, and are seeing success, and we know that we have to do good work.
Bickram: People want to hear what we are producing.

Sonu, before Sapna jahan, you had done another Ajay-Atul song for Agneepath. What's so great about them?

Sonu: We have a lot of things in common. Both are passionate people. Composers shouldn't compromise with voices and they don't. As a fighter, you would like to see the strongest man win, and when it comes to music you would like to see the best singer come to the fore.

Sonu, you have around 2.87 million Twitter followers...

Sonu: (Smiles) It's a nice number...

How important is social media, Twitter, for you?

Sonu: It makes a lot of difference when you want to send across a message. I respect these platforms. The only thing that I don't approve of is that it becomes a weapon in the hands of some people who misuse it. A celebrity is entitled to his opinion, and one shouldn't bully him by calling him names. You may not agree with a celebrity's opinion but you cannot abuse him.

Bickram, your son Adit is playing the tabla now...

Bickram: Adit is practising hard, and learning both from my father (Shankar Ghosh) and me. His interest has grown, he practises tabla every day. I don't have to tell him. He has played percussion at school concerts, and for the Kolkata For Nepal concert. However, I have only told him not to play tabla in concerts until he is completely ready. Tabla is a tough instrument. We are giving him the time to build that up. Now, he practises on his own.

How does it feel to watch your son play tabla?

Bickram: I feel happy, but I'm also wary of the fact that... see, both my father and I have gone through a lot of struggles in life. It is not an easy profession, and that he is playing the tabla, that he is pursuing this very tough instrument, makes me happy. I do not know if he will make this his career. He should have the freedom to decide whether he wants to make it his profession or not.

Sonu, what do you think of the young singers in Bollywood? Are you in touch with any of them?

Sonu: I'm in touch with a lot of people. Neeti Mohan, Shruti Pathak, Jonita Gandhi are close to me. Some are shy or maybe have inhibitions... The industry might change, along with the parameters, but there'll be good opportunities for people who deserve it. People who are seasonal will enjoy their success for some time but find it hard to cope. These are good times for music.

Are you travelling a lot now?

Sonu: I like to travel. I was in Maasai Mara recently, and it was my son and my wife's first safari. It was amazing! I want to give time to myself. What's the point of giving time to everything else but yourself? Who am I living for? I don't want to die counting my songs, or my money in my bank. I would rather spend some time with myself. I have a house in Los Angeles, two miles away from Hollywood Boulevard. I would love to settle down there, but frankly there's no work there. If I had an option of working in America, I'd have loved to divide my time between the States and India. I'm making a farmhouse in Karjat and I'll be shifting there partially. It's a beautiful place near Mumbai, an hour-and-a-half away.

Now that you are a composer, how does it feel to be directed by other composers?

Sonu: You listen to the composer with more patience. When you become a composer, you get a certain perspective. I'm doing a single with T Series, a song composed by Jeet Gannguli.

Living in different cities, how do you guys work on the music?

Bickram: We are comfortably operational between the two cities. I would probably go down to Bombay twice a month or Sonubhai would come down. Otherwise, we use technology to our advantage.

Sonu: Calcutta has grown on me. People are passionate. Sometimes they might appear eccentric because of their fixed opinion about things, but there is an in-depth sincerity in the Bengali culture. They have the finest audiences, and they come from a sincere space. The city has seen so much. But I'll never tell Bickrambhai to shift to Calcutta. I would never want him to cut his roots and come here.

Will you guys score for a Bengali film?

Bickram: Yes, if it's interesting for both of us, and if the musical aspect of the film is strong and wide, and it requires the skill sets of both of us. You'll get to hear him sing in a Bengali film pretty soon.

What do you guys do for fun?

Bickram: We do a lot of wordplay and phonetics!
Sonu: I love badminton, table tennis, cricket. I used to be a decent cricketer when I was younger. I like to collect books, and know more about astronomy, metaphysics. I love listening to Osho Rajneesh.