Bappida will sing, Abhishek will dance
And yes, composer A R Rahman thinks they are a perfect couple
Subhash K Jha
| A R Rahman |
Amitabh Bachchan blazed a trail with his 'Khaike paan banaraswala' in the 1970s. Now Abhishek Bahchchan is set to takes the bhang-and-dance route too, in Mani Ratnam's Guru. The song is set to music by A R Rahman, and rendered by Bappi Lahiri.
The song is a 'bhang' number to which a tipsy Abhishek will shake a leg on screen.
Will Bappi's voice suit Abhishek? "Why not?" asks Rahman. "I think Bappi's voice will suit Abhishek perfectly."
One music director recording a song in the voice of another music director? Isn't that unusual? "No," argues Rahman. "Why do you say that? I've always liked Bappida. He's an innovator. In the 1950s he was the first composer to go for disco. He was the first to record in London. And I like his voice. When we recorded a fun-filled mischievous dummy track for Mani Rathnam's Guru in the voice of a Bengali guy in Chennai, we thought of a matching a voice to do the final recording. Gulzarsaab, who wrote the lyrics for the song, suggested Bappida's voice. We immediately invited Bappida to Chennai. He came, heard the song, said he liked it and recorded it. It was fun. Besides I had met Bappida off and on at concerts , functions etc. So it wasn't as if I had to approach a stranger."
I personally avoid singing for lead stars. Even in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se, where I had a song filmed on Shah Rukh Khan ('Dil se re') I didn't sing in the foreground. Yet, strangely, kids seem to know me more as a singer than composer. In films I like to sing only the moody theme songs. In Swades Ashutosh Gowariker wanted me to sing the 'Ek tara' number. But I thought Udit Narayan suited Shah Rukh far more. So I chose to sing the theme song in Swades. I guess I'm just lucky that people liked my singing so much. Personally I feel I've a long way to go as a singer."
Rahman confesses he isn't as proficient at singing as he is at composing. "I can't just break into a song like our professional playback singers. Even when I sang on Rendezvous With Simi Garewal I had to stop the chat session, rehearse for my singing and then do a completely new session."
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