We are not like Reshammiya

by Subhash K Jha

Vishal-Shekhar who gave Abhishek Bachchan a cool-dude attitude with the songs Dus bahaane and Right here right now, are doing a whole album of songs with Abhishek.

Says the more vocal of the composing duo Vishal, "We aren't supposed to talk about it at all. We don't know where the album is going right now. All we know is it'll be something on an international scale.

We're thinking big over this project. But Abhishek is busy. So it's up to him and Amitji(who does a track)….So far we've only been jamming together. If it happens the album will be a milestone. "

Rohan Sippy will produce this album. "And that coming from a filmmaker is quite unique. If it happens it'll be bigger than any film soundtrack. We're looking at international collaboration with artistes, musicians…"

Vishal-Shekhar is glad their music is connecting with the masses. "We're composing songs for Siddharth Anand's next. It's a much more grown-up film than Salaam Namaste. But still it's a super-cool flick. It's a rise-and-fall story. But I hope our music only rises…

We's also doing Abubhav Sinha's Cash. For Milan Luthria's next film, a love story, we'll write the sort of love ballads Shekhar and I write in our free time. At the end of the day Indian melodies will always be in demand.

But we've a whole lot of new musicians doing music in Hindi films. The audience has also evolved substantially. Whatever we compose has to be dynamic….Composers today need a vision. There're more internet downloads and ring tones than tapes."

Vishal talks about Vishal-Shekhar's big 2005 triumphs namely Dus and Bluff Master. " Shekhar and I love writing melodious songs. But right from Dus bahaane to Right here right now, all the songs that were happening last year were uptempo."

Vishal never thought these tracks would become such a craze. "I'd attribute about ninety percent of the success of Dus bahaane and Right here right now to Abhishek. A lot of a song's impact depends on who performs it, and how. I think Abhishek who's into hip-hop found a comfort zone in his dancing with Dus bahaane."

Vishal isn't much enthused by Himesh Reshammiya's music. "He's a big star today. But he's a different school, more traditionally filmy, than us. I love his track Soniye by KK. Even Himesh has a substantial range as a singer and fantastic composing acumen. But I'm not impressed by his production values.

I admire the volume of work Himesh is doing. I can't see Shekhar and myself doing more than one film at a time. It gets too hectic. It's great to have a music company T -Series back Himesh to the hilt."

And re-mixes? "Never! Nor would we do just one song to provide a potential hit in a film. We like doing what we're comfortable with. We're working with friends. Sidharth Anand, Sujoy Ghosh(hopefully we'll all return from Home Delivery), Anubhav Sinha…"

Will the Dus sequel have a song called Gyarah bahane? "I don't know. I hope not,"laughs Vishal.