Welcome to the new rhythm that is driving the nation crazy – ‘Hoo Haa India’. And if you are wondering what are Vishal-Shekhar doing apart from making cricket promotional tracks, then read on. Because for next year or so, you would hear them in not less than 6 biggies, that doesn’t include their album with Abhishek Bachchan, which they tout as the biggest of all.Over to Vishal Dadlani to hear from him about some exclusive details, especially about the music of Chota B album and ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.’
‘Hoo Haa India’ – Is that going be the new anthem of the cricket crazy nation?
Yup, hope so. I believe we have been able to get a new rhythm going, and a fairly good one so say!
But how did the project happen?
Well, we were paid good money by the agencies and we gave them a good track to chant! It was as simple as that. [Laughs]
Come on now, seriously what was the driving factor?
It happened like this. JWD, the ad agency, approached us and wanted us to compose a track that could be used for the upcoming cricket series. The rhythm was something that they wanted to be cried out loud in the stadium while the matches were on. Obviously we were paid good money too [smiles] and everything seemed quite interesting to get going. Shiraz Bhattacharya, the man who plays drums for us, is the director of the music video that you currently see on air.
No, in fact ‘Aaya India’ has a lot many shades to it. It is about people, it is about families, it is about stuff we care about. It is like treating your nation as your mother.
Did you conceptualize the track from scratch?
No, in fact lyrics were sent to us by JWD themselves and what they demanded was to hear a rhythm on the lines of ‘Hoo Haa’! Then we roped in Sukhwinder Singh, who is one of our big favorites, to render the track. Now he is someone who brings in so many different textures to a composition. We did compose the track and later the singers came in. Apart from Sukhwinder there is Tara Baswani, a known name in the ad circles, who has sung the track.
So is the song ‘Aaya India’ mainly for the upcoming ICC Championship Trophy or beyond that?
See, to be very honest to you, I don’t have a faintest of clue about that. I don’t know if they would use it for Championship Trophy, take it till the World Cup 2007 or beyond that!
Fair enough. But Vishal, where are the movies? Long time since we heard from you?
And I would call it as a calm before the storm. There is so much of film music that you would hear from us in the coming months that you won’t be able to ignore us by any means!
And which are these films?
First to come would be Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.’ Then there is Arjun Rampal’s home production ‘I See You’. After that there is Yash Raj Films’ ‘Tara Rum Pum’. Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Cash’ and ‘Airport’ are in the pipeline too. And last but not the least; we come back with Sujoy again with his fantasy flick ‘Aladin’. This means that starting November, we would be practically there on a regular basis till mid-2007. Any complains now?
No, not at all. In fact one feels that you guys must have been over worked by now. Any plans to take rest?
Man, desperately! Our families are after us to take a vacation and we certainly are going to take one soon!
With so many films coming up, let’s talk about your nearest release ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd’ first.
Believe me; Reema Kagti [film’s director] has made such a unique film. It is a concept so novel that you would be amazed to see it unfolding in front of you on screen. Even the music is dictated so much by characters and each time a song comes up, you realize that it is due to a situational placement.
Songs driven by characters? Is the music something on the lines of those heard in Sujoy’s films [‘Jhankaar Beats’, ‘Home Delivery’]?
Well, not exactly. See Reema and Sujoy are two different people and have different tastes when it comes to music. Each of them demand a different flavor and as composers we strive to give them exactly what they want. They have a different style of music placement in their films.
Coming back to ‘Honeymoon’, do you wish to elaborate on the music?
There is a lot of variety that you would hear there. There is one folksy club song which is really HUGE! Then there is one love song that goes completely filmy. A lovely pop-rock kind of song also finds a place in the album while one track is solely about a journey. Apart from this there are some more. Another special attraction is Shankar Mahadevan singing for us. Believe me there was so much of fun while composing the musical score of ‘Honeymoon’ and we thoroughly loved the outing.
Shankar Mahadevan singing for you? Now this is something new since he is composes with Ehsaan and Loy too?
Well, this is not exactly new, not something for us at least. You may remember Bappida sung for us in ‘Taxi No. 9211’! Then I have sung a couple of songs for Shankar too. So, it’s quite cool actually!
Talking of other composers/singers singing for you, you had also mentioned some time back that you would love to get Priyanka Chopra sing for an album. So is Priyanka Chopra going to be next Sunidhi Chauhan?
No! Not at all. In fact Priyanka Chopra is going to be another Priyanka Chopra. She won’t replace anyone since she will build an identity of her own. She is so unique.
But then why has that not happened so far?
Because she is not getting that push from inside her. Once she gets that push and she agrees, there will be no looking back for her. It is good that she has friends like Rohan [Sippy], Abhishek [Bachchan] and others who would convince her one day that she can be a rock star!
And how about the other actor turning singer – Abhishek Bachchan? Oh, that’s really happening well. The album is happening well and currently there is a lot of jamming happening. Mark my words, in comparison to all the other 5-6 albums that I mentioned in the start, the one that we are creating with Abhishek Bachchan would be most rocking of all. It is coming out so beautifully that we are eagerly waiting for it to be ready and up there on stands.
How is it progressing?
6 tracks have been completed and four more are on the way. And don’t ask me which genre the songs belong to because they don’t belong to a particular genre. Also, if you thought that ‘Right Here Right Now’ [Bluffmaster] was cool then you have to wait for this album to be out. You will have to find a new term to describe the feel.
And is dad Bachchan coming in too?
We hope so, and we are praying hard. We don’t have to really describe how big fans are we of Mr. Bachchan. We believe that he would be singing a track for us but then first we actually want it to happen before declaring it to the world.
With such a big album coming in, you must have already found a music label.
Seriously, this album is more of an art for us and we are not taking it as a commercial outing. We have not even thought on those lines though I can tell you that it will take a wide international release, something that has been rarely seen for a musical score from India.
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