Bollywood – Page 11

Nasheman.in interviews Kader Khan

September 8, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

Kader Khan, a writer, actor, director par excellence, needs no special introduction. And in spite of his ill health since a long time, he will be seen on the celluloid silver screen in a female director Fauzia Arshi’s upcoming film ‘Hogaya Dimaag Ka Dahi’. Caught up with the veteran actor Kader Khan at the recent media conference of ‘Hogaya Dimaag Ka Dahi’ held at Raheja Classic Club. At the same conference other veteran actors like Om Puri & Razzak Khan strongly felt that it is high time that the Government bestowed on him the most prestigious honours of a Padmashree or a Padmabushan at least at this age & stage and moreover he very well deserves it. Present herewith is an ad verbatim interactive session with the funster.

How would you describe your film journey down the years in a nutshell?

It may sound cliched but yes I had started out as an actor in college, whose name I forget in fact I have to try very hard to recollect my past. Anyways Yusuf Sahab alias Dilip Kumar got a wind of this play and expressed his desire to see it. So I went all out & got the play restaged. I am sure he must have liked the play, I don’t know whether he liked my acting in it or not but he instantly asked me to join films & signed me for not one but two films namely ‘Sagina Mahto’ & ‘Bairaag’. And then, of course, there was no looking back for me. But of course you can say that my mainstream commercial debut was with Yash Raj Films ‘Daag’ as a prosecuting attorney.

So when did you make a transition from an actor to a writer?

I think I first became a dialogue writer with the film ‘Unees Bees’. Mujhe ab bhi yaad hai, two young teenage boys named Rauf & Vinay had come to me and just like that asked me to write the dialogues for their script of ‘Unees Bees’. I agreed very hesitatingly and I often used to wonder during the making of the film, “Aakhir mujhe hi kyun chuna?”. I think the producer was Parmeshwaren and yes that was my 1st ever fling with the South Indian Producers. And I soon got my answer when Rauf Vinay & myself won rave reviews for our efforts. And then there was no looking back as I had started picking up writing assignments too.

And what made you turn a director?

After gaining a lot of experience in acting & writing one fine day, just like that, I decided to make a film. And the result was ‘Shama’. It was a burning film with a burning issue and, of course, quite ahead of its time. And, of course, ‘Shama’ became the milestone film of my career. And I am seriously thinking now of making its remake.

Which was the turning point in your career?

The turning point of my career as an actor & a writer was when I was picked up for South Indian films courtesy I think Jeetendra, but I am sorry I don’t remember who introduced me to South Indian films or was it the South Indian producers who picked me up.

Who was instrumental in the success of your career?

Sorry I don’t remember and I can’t remember any one particular person who was responsible for this, but regardless of that I would like to thank one and all, the producers, the directors, the writers, as I have worked with other writers too, the co – stars and of course most importantly the technicians & the unit hands too, without which an actor just can’t survive.

Did bagging an award mattered to you then?

Yes! “Jab fans aur critics taarif karte hain toh bahut acha lagta hai and when you bag a prestigious awards like a filmfare it puts a final stamp on your talent. And I am happy that I bagged awards galore but when I bagged several filmfare awards I felt as if I had won the Oscars.

Of late your health is not well yet you continue doing films. How come?

It is all because I love my profession “Aur agar aap sabki dua rahi to main zindagi ki aakri saans tak aap sabko entertain karna chahoonga”.

So what is your latest film ‘Hogaya Dimaagh Ka Dahi’ all about?

You see when director Fauzia Arshi offered me ‘Hogaya Dimaagh Ka Dahi’ I had refused point blank, but when she persisted on and on and on I relented as she had promised that it will be very easy for me to enact the role. And believe me my role in ‘Hogaya Dimaag Ka Dahi’ is all about an ailing grandfather who is confined to bed and his entire clan is after his blood to usurp his property. Besides it was lovely working with seasoned actors like me mainly Om Puri, Razzak Khan et al. And not only this I am also acting in a couple of more films including producer Nadiadwala Grandsons, Firoz Nadiadwala & director Anees Bajmee’s ‘Welcome Back’ which is releasing on 4th Sept, 2015.

Lastly tell us how was your experience during your recent Haj pilgrimage to Makkah & Medina?

Of course I am lucky that I could perform my recent Haj pilgrimage in spite of my ill health and my being totally confined to my wheelchair. You know that my firm belief is that Allah – The Almighty always helps those who helps themselves. Period!

Raju Bajrangi – An upcoming bilingual film will connect Bollywood & Tollywood in one link

September 7, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

It is strange but true that Hindi Cinema (Bollywood) & South Indian Cinema (Tollywood), in spite of being a part & parcel of one nation India, are poles apart from each other.

This difference between the two film industry, namely the Hindi Cinema & the South Indian Cinema is not only in terms of language, but also the people working in both the industry like the producers, the directors, the artistes, the music composers, the singers et al, are always troubled & tensed up because of this wide gap between the two ever flourishing film industry.

Besides the South Indian films, which are run on the big celluloid silver screen or even on the idiot box’s small screen of the Hindi belt, are always in its dubbed versions. And more or less it is the same case with the Hindi films which are run in the Southern belt.

And that’s the main reason why such films fail to leave any impact on the audiences of other language segment, the way do in their original language versions. And maybe the biggest reason for not leaving an impact on the audiences is because the two language films are never made or produced simultaneously. One or more additional versions are just dubbed.

But now the age old widest gap, between the two, namely the Hindi film industry (Bollywood) & the South Indian film industry (Tollywood), is all set to be over once & for all. Yes! Now whoever hears this good news will be shocked & surprised all rolled into one. It so happens that Manoj Sharma, Bollywood’s youthful & full of energetic beans, nowadays is trying his level best to create a friendly & creative bridge between the two film industry namely Bollywood & Tollywood. And lending him a friendly helping hand in making this bridge stronger as well as impactful, is none other than Praveen Bhardwaj – the internationally acclaimed & Bollywood’s most popular music composer & singer. The duo of director Manoj Sharma & music composer & singer Praveen Bhardwaj have willingly taken up this job of creating a path to connect the two industry namely Bollywood & Tollywood.

Manoj Sharma, in this particular regard, averred, “You see after toiling for years together, we have come up with a project in which not only the two industry will be able to connect with each other but both the industry’s producers, directors, artistes, music composer, singers et al will be able to work with each other to give off their best. And of course they will get this golden opportunity because of our newly launched bilingual film ‘Raju Bajrangi’ (Hindi & Tamil) which will be made & produced, mind you not dubbed, simultaneously.”

Manoj Sharma continued further by stating that, “Perhaps ‘Raju Bajrangi’ will prove to be the first ever film that is being made & produced, mind you not dubbed, by the producers of the two film industry simultaneously. The artistes from both the industry are also working in ‘Raju Bajrangi’.”

On the other hand Praveen Bhardwaj, the man with the ever smiling countenance, enlightened further that, “And to sustain the musical impact of the film which may have effected the film due to a change in languages, I have made the same singer to croon the title song of ‘Raju Bajrangi’ in both the Hindi & the Tamil version. This is one of the unusual experiment ever tried before in the musical history.”

The point to be noted here is that just recently Praveen Bhardwaj’s debut musical album both as a music composer & singer titled “Desires – Mohabbat Mein Kya Milega” has been acclaimed & ranked as #1 on a global level. One sincerely hopes & pray that after his experimental musical step in ‘Raju Bajrangi’, he gets the same acclaim & musical popularity in South Indian films just as Allah Rakha Rahman has got in Bollywood films.

As a parting shot and as per director Manoj Sharma their production house is equally important than the South Indian producer’s production houses. And in their own production house they will keep on making scores of good films, through which hundreds of people will get a golden chance to connect & work with both the Hindi film industry (Bollywood) as well as the South Indian film industry (Tollywood).

Music-composer Aadesh Shrivastava dies of cancer

September 5, 2015 by Nasheman

Mumbai: Bollywood singer-composer Aadesh Shrivastava, who was battling a relapsed cancer, passed away post midnight in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital here. He was 51.

Shrivastava had been undergoing cancer treatment at the hospital in Andheri for over 40 days.

“Mr Aadesh Shrivastava (51) expired at 12.30 am on September 5, 2015 in Kokilaben Hospital due to cancer,” Dr Ram Narain of the hospital told PTI.

Shrivastava is survived by his wife, Vijeta Pandit, a former Bollywood actress and sister of music-composer duo Jatin- Lalit, and their two sons — Anivesh and Avitesh.

Last evening Shrivastava’s brother-in-law and composer Lalit Pandit had told PTI, “He has been undergoing chemotherapy but he is not responding to it. So, the doctors have stopped giving him chemotherapy. They have an alternate theory. The doctors are trying to do their best and Aadesh is fighting it bravely.”

Shrivastava, who battled cancer five years ago, was diagnosed with the same disease again. He was said to be in a critical condition when he was admitted to the hospital.

“Terrible. Terrible. Terrible News. Too young to Go Aadesh Shrivastava,” film director Anubhav Sinha said on Twitter.

Over the course of his career, Shrivastava had composed music for over 100 Hindi films, including “Chalte Chalte”, “Baabul”, “Baghban”, “Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham”, “Rajneeti” and others.

He got his first big break with film “Kanyadaan” in 1993.

However, the film could not be released and its songs went unnoticed.

Shrivastava delivered chart busters like “Kya ada kya jalwe tere Paro”, “Haathon mein aa gaya jo kal”, “Sona sona”, “Shava shava”, “Gustakhiyaan”, “Gur nalon ishq mitha”, “Mora Piya” among others.

He was a judge on the talent hunt show “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” Challenge in 2005 and 2009.

Shrivastava took to direction with his short film on child prostitution, “Sanaa”.

His colleagues from the industry, including Amitabh Bachchan and superstar Shah Rukh Khan, were keeping a check on his health.

“Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan) has been keeping a check on his health regularly over phone. He has been very helpful.

Besides, Shah Rukh Khan had come to visit him too. Tina Ambani has visited him twice and she is also taking special care,” Lalit had said.

“People from the music industry like Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan also have been visiting him regularly. Shekar Kapur, Govind Nihalani, Poonam Dhillon and others had come to see him too,” he had said.

(Agencies)

Movie Review: ‘The Path of Zarathustra’ is a very relevant film on the exploration of one’s religious faith

September 4, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

Producer: Sorab Irani
Director: Oorvazi Irani
Star Cast: Oorvazi Irani, Tom Alter, Rushad Rana, Darius Shroff, Firdausi Jussawalla & Vivek Tandon
Genre: Docudrama
Verdict: Good

Parsis are a minority community which is mostly steeped in myths galore. and director Oorvazi Irani has tried her best to clear all the misconceptions prevalent about the Parsis in lieu with their religion.

Plot: The film tells the journey of a young woman born into Zoroastrianism, the religion of her forefathers. Her journey starts with a remote village where she sees her grandfather die, to Mumbai, where she is welcomed by her aunt’s adopted son who confesses that he still loves her.

Aces: A laudable effort by a 1st time director Oorvazi Irani. Besides she has succeeded in extracting good work from her technicians.

Minuses: The performance of all the actors including the director Oorvazi Irani in the central role leaves much to be desired.

Last Word: A very relevant film on the exploration of one’s religious faith.

Movie Review: ‘Kaun Kitne Paani Mein’ is a very mediocre movie

September 2, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

Producers: One Drop Foundation & Eleeanora Images Pvt Ltd
Director: Nila Madhab Panda
Cast: Kunal Kapoor, Radhika Apte, Gulshan Grover, Saurabh Shukla et al

What one really fails to understand is that how come a brilliant director like Nila Madhab Panda, who has earlier made excellently outstanding film like ‘I Am Kalam’ come with such a mediocre film like ‘Kaun Kitne Paani Mein’. Which is a satirical take revolving around water politics in a fictional Odisha village.

The film opens with an honour killing where the king of a village (nestled in the hills) shoots his daughter and the low caste man she has fallen in love with and banishes the man’s poor family to the foothills of the village. 3 decades later, the rich wastrels of the king’s part of the village (known as Upri) and the hardworking commoners who now reside in the foothills (Bairi) lead starkly & starkingly different lives. While Upri, once fertile, is rendered barren over the years due to lack of water, Bairi has been transformed into lush agricultural land thanks to its enterprising residents as they are well – versed in water conservation methods and manage to store all the rain water that trickles down to them from Upri every year.
Heading these warring sub – villages are Raja Braj Singh Deo (Saurabh Shukla) & Kharu Pehelwan (Gulshan Grover) respectively. While the film mostly consists of satirical set pieces to stress just how water politics takes shape, the film’s story only gains momentum with the entrance of the film’s protagonists Deo’s son Raj (Kunal Kapoor) & Kharu’s daughter Paro (Radhika Apte).

The Odisha Director Nila Madhab Panda seriously needs to take an escapism break to hone up & sharpen his directorial skills.

Performance wise all the actors right from the youngsters (Kunal Kapoor & Radhika Apte) to the veteran & seasoned actors (Gulshan Grover & Saurabh) have just sleep walked through the film. Need anything more be said.

Tail Piece: If you have nothing better to do than settle down in front of your small screen (idiot box) or just go for a stroll.

Movie Review: ‘Phantom’ is a good movie in tandem with its around the world visual treat

September 2, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

Banner: Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment
Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala & Siddharth Roy Kapur
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sabyasaachi Chakraborty, Rajesh Tailang, Shahnawaz Pradhan & Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Music: Pritam & Julius Packiam

Director Kabir Khan has had several outings in Bollywood like ‘Kabul Express’, ‘New York’, Ek Tha Tiger’ et al and now ‘Phantom’ based on journo turned author S. Hussein Zaidi’s best selling novella ‘Mumbai Avengers’ which details the behind the scenes graphic accounts of the terrorist attack of 26 / 11 in & around Mumbai’s Taj Hotel.

The plotted scenario of ‘Phantom’ kick starts with the visuals of the 26 / 11 Mumbai attack. This is immediately followed by a high octane car chase sequence between Daniyal Khan (Saif Ali Khan) and an unknown man in Chicago (US) who bangs his car and tries to drive away. Daniyal finally gets hold of him but accidentally kicks him off the bridge into the river below. This, then, leads to an array of flashback events, which establishes the connection between Daniyal Khan’s past to his present day life. The flashback states that, after being dismissed from the Indian army, Daniyal goes into a hibernation of sorts, living an isolated & secluded life of his own. In the meanwhile, when India’s RAW (Research & Analysis Wing) learns about Pakistan based terrorist group Lashkar’s yet another plan of attacking India, they plan a secret operation, off the books, to take down all the accused & masterminds behind Mumbai attacks. After much research they decided on hiring Daniyal Khan for this job. The RAW officials believe that Khan is like a ‘Phantom’, he has no records and is completely off the radar. As a part of the mission, he meets up with the beautiful & talented Nawaz (Katrina Kaif) in UK where she works as a ‘Security Consultant’. The duo however gel well after Daniyal’s 1st 2 missions in UK & US. Thereafter this duo’s journey traverses from Beirut, Syria and finally Pakistan. Even though Daniyal Khan’s mission happens to be a ‘top secret’ and ‘highly confidential’ one, the Pakistani officials sniff out his plan before Daniyal Khan reaches his ultimate goal of killing Hariz Saeed (Shahnawaz Pradhan), the mastermind behind the 26/11 attacks.

Surprisingly director Kabir Khan is getting totally seeped in the terrrorism genre of filmmaking barring his most emotional outing in ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. Besides an incredible job has also been done by Julius Packiam (Background Scorer), Aseem Sharma (Cinematographer – who has brilliantly captured the global foreign locales), Aarif Sheikh (Editor). Kabir Khan & Parveez Shaikh (Screenplay Writer) & Peter Pedrero (Action). But composer Pritam has delivered a totally disappointing musical fare.

Performance wise it is Saif Ali Khan who shines all through the film with Katrina Kaif lending him adequate support by matching him step by step abeit in a deglamourised avatar. The other actors like Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Rajesh Tailang and above all Shahnawaz Pradhan & Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub are first rate.

Tail Piece: All in all ‘Phantom’ is a good movie in tandem with its around the world visual treat.

Movie Review: ‘Manjhi – The Mountain Man’ is mainly for art house cinema lover

September 1, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

Banner: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures & NFDC India
Producers: Nina Lath Gupta & Deepa Sahi
Director: Ketan Mehta
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Gaurav Dwivedi et al

Director Ketan Mehta’s last colourful outing was the Randeep Hooda starrer ‘Rang Rasiya’ which had fetched critical acclaim galore. He is more Known for delivering gems & milestone movies in his career. Ketan has now come up with an out of the world movie like ‘Manjhi – The Mountain Man’, an Indian biographical film, based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi, who was widely known as the “Mountain Man”.

The plotted scenario starts off with a ‘conversation’ between Dashrath Maanjhi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and a humongous mountain, in which he cries his heart out before the mountain with all the aggression. The ‘heat’ of his conversation is so much that it (quite literally) sparks off a fire. The story then gets into a flashback mode wherein it shows all the events that lead him to the present day situation. The flashback shows Dashrath, who hails from a totally backward class, getting married to Phaguniya (Radhika Apte) during childhood itself. Because of his father’s inability to pay the debts, he plans to leave Dashrath with the village’s merciless Mukhiya (Tigmanshu Dhulia) as his domestic help. But the self respecting Dashrath bites off his father’s hand and runs away from the village itself…….only to return after a gap of 7 long years. While he sees that things haven’t changed much in the village in terms of progress, his love life blooms the very moment he sets his eyes on Phaguniya. His joy knows no end when he discovers that Phaguniya is no one else but the same girl whom he had got married to in his childhood. After all the drama that takes place because of his unemployment, Dashrath & Phaguniya run away from the ‘clutches’ of their parents, only to live a peaceful life forever. Dashrath loves her so much that his life becomes impossible without her. After the delivery of their 1st child, Phaguniya conceives for the 2nd time. The dutiful wife that she is, she climbs the hilly mountains to bring lunch for Dashrath, who works incessantly in order to give his family a happy life. One day, pregnant Phaguniya, while climbing the hills, slips from there and passes away after delivering her 2nd child. Unable to bear the grief of the sudden death of her wife, Dashrath feels that the hilly ‘egoistic’ mountains are the killers. In order to teach these mountains a lesson that they will never forget, he starts cutting them with an axe…….all single handedly.

Producers Viacom 18 Picture & NFDC deserves kudos & full marks for backing Ketan Mehta’s courageous act of coming up with such realistic docu drama as ‘Manjhi – The Mountain Man’.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui & Radhika Apte have delivered a very heart warming & flawless performance. The rest of the film’s characters in the form of Tigmanshu Dhulia, Pankaj Tripathi, Gaurav Dwiwedi et al, offer their support in taking the film to its well deserving climax. A special mention must be made of Deepa Sahi, in a cameo, who is perfection personified.

Tail Piece: ‘Manjhi – The Mountain Main’ is a once in a lifetime made par excellent film albeit which will appeal mainly to art house cinema lovers.

Movie Review: ‘All is Well’ is an entertaining film both for the classy as well as mass audiences

August 31, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

Banner: Allchemy Productions & T – Series
Producers: Shyam Bajaj, Varun Bajaj, Bhushan Kumar & Krishan Kumar
Director: Umesh Shukla
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Asin, Rishi Kapoor & Supriya Pathak
Music: Meet Bros Anjjan, Amaal Mallik, Mithoon & Himesh Reshammiya

Director Umesh Shukla in his debut directorial offering ‘OMG – Oh My God!’ had displayed a fair sense of his directorial finesse. And in his 2nd directorial outing ‘All is Well’ he has surpassed his own directorial skills by giving a gift of a beautifully entertaining film.

The plotted scenario of ‘All is Well’ depicts Indar (Abhishek Bachchan) is a musician based in Bangkok. Nimmi (Asin), a true blue romantic at heart (in the literal sense) loves Indar but the angry young man can’t reciprocate her feelings as he belongs to a dysfunctional family where his father Bhallasahab (Rishi Kapoor) & mom (Supriya Pathak) were always at loggerheads. As he didn’t want to be a part of his father’s fledgling bakery business, Indar had been asked to leave the house. Quirky fate proves instrumental in bringing Indar back to his home town Kasol where his dad was under enormous debt while his mom was unwell. The local moneylender Cheema (Zeeshan Ayyub) makes Bhalla & Son run for their money and madness unleashes relentlessly.

All in all, ‘All is Well’ proves Umesh Shukla’s mastery over his directorial treatment. Not only the cast, but also the entire technical crew of ‘All is Well’, especially music composer Amaal Mallik, deserves a pat on their back for living up to not only Umesh Shukla but also the cine goers expectations.

Performance wise Abhishek Bachchan has delivered a marvellous performance. Rishi Kapoor is brilliance personified. Zeeshan Ayyub’s act is the most entertaining. Asin looks glamorous. Supriya Pathak is competent. While Seema Pahwa is hilarious.

Tail Piece: ‘All is Well’ is one fun filled family entertainment which is not to be missed at any cost.

Sanjay Dutt gets fresh parole, this time for daughter’s surgery

August 27, 2015 by Nasheman

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who is currently serving a five-year term at Pune’s Yerawada Central Jail, has been granted a 30-day parole for tending to his daughter, who is to undergo nose surgery, official sources said here on Wednesday.

He had applied for the parole in June citing his daughter’s medical condition, which has been granted two days ago by the Pune Divisional Commissioner.

Aftre completing various formalities, including posting a surety bond, Dutt is likely to walk out of jail either later on Wednesday or Thursday and return to his Bandra home.

The 30-day parole is extendable by another 60 days.

Since he reported to the Yerawada Central Jail in May 2013, theMunna Bhai M.B.B.S. actor, who was convicted for illegal possession of arms in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, has been out on parole for around four months.

Prior to this, in October 2013, Dutt had been released on medical furlough for 28 days, followed by another 28 days in December 2013 to tend to his ailing wife Manyata, 14 days parole in December 2014 and another 60 days from January 2014.

This had sparked off protests among various sections with allegations of preferential treatment meted out to him owing to his star status.

The Khalnayak star, who has given hits like Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Vaastav: The Reality and Saajan, is currently serving the remaining 42 months of his five-year jail term.

(Agencies)

Nasheman.in interviews music composer & singer Abhishek Ray

August 27, 2015 by Shaheen Raaj

Abhishek Ray handles mainstream commercial & intellectual cinema with equal ease.

How did you manage to capture the spirit of ‘Welcome Back’?

Composing the theme song for ‘Welcome Back’ was a huge challenge as the film is a pot pourri of various powerful characters coming together to create a comical extravaganza of epic proportions. So the song had to capture the soul of the tapori (John Abraham), the dangerous (Nana Patekar & Anil Kapoor), the glamorous (Shruti Hasan), the fabulous (Ankita & Dimple Kapadia), the ferocious (Naseeruddin Shah) etc. So I came up with this unusual funk – jazz kind of melody which captures the quirky comedy of the film as well as the mafia element.

Besides composing music, you have sung the song too?

The title song needed a unique & fresh vocal timbre. It also needed a brazen, experimental jazz – blues kind of singing. Owing to my background in the jazz piano & western classical, this kind of singing comes naturally and everybody loved it. I wanted to avoid the cliche of overused playback voices. Sometimes they take away from the uniqueness of the song.

Must have been a radical shift for you as a music composer from ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ to ‘Welcome Back’?

Unfortunately we live in times of mediocrity where one musician does only one repetitive kind of style and Bollywood is quick to recognize that and slot him. But the true quality of a film composer lies in versatility. He should have the knowledge & talent bank to capture the essence of the film and deliver a sound canvas accordingly. After composing & singing for national award winning films like ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ & ‘I Am Kalam’ and critically acclaimed films like ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster’, ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’, I felt the inner need to drift away and exhibit the mainstream commercial side of my melodies.

And how did you make this transition?

The trick I think is to hold on and have the power to say no. I had many film offers after ‘Paan Singh Tomar’ but did not pick up most of them. I waited patiently till Anees Bhai heard me and was gracious & kind to pick me up for such a gigantic production. There are very few directors in the industry who deviate from the obvious and show the courage & insight to introduce a radical sound in an extravagant mainstream production with 9 stars.

So do you think star power works for music?

For film music, invariably yes…Many people may be evasive on this but experience has taught me to be candid. Apart from composing good music, it is important to release that music on a robust platform. How well the director uses your music and what visuals carry it forward makes a world of difference. A lot of beautiful songs don’t reach out to the target audience due to lack of promotions and visibility. I have faced that far too often.

What about non – film music?

I was brought into the industry by Gulzar Saheb. I began my career with a solo album with Gulzar Saheb called “Udaas Paani”. This experimental album was a musical saga of poetic moods and did exceedingly well. The success of “Udaas Paani” led us to collaborate on another eclectic album called ‘Raat Chand Aur Main”. After that there was no stopping and in the last decade, I have sung & composed the prestigious “Amazing India” series for music today, “Ritu” the magic of the 6 Indian seasons, “Raga Rendezvous” etc. Being a hard core musician at heart, albums give me extreme satisfaction but unfortunately the current market scenario is too Bollywood specific. Most albums today don’t get to release & reach out respectfully today.

What are your inspirations in music?

Mother Nature and a constantly nomadic free – spirited lifestyle have been my greatest inspirations. I am crazy about exploring untamed places, wilderness areas, old dilapidated structures, remote villages & sagas of unusual human lives etc. Such places have an uncanny aura & silver notes of melodies come running to my mind like droplets of rain. I am an active wildlife activist and I am also a Government bona fide tiger & leopard tracker. I run my own wildlife conservation project near Corbett National Park called sitabaniwildlifereserve.com.

What films are you looking forward to?

I have done some soul – stirring songs for a film called ‘Marriage Anniversary’ featuring Nana Patekar & Mahie Gill. I have also composed for ‘Saat Uchchakey’ produced by Neeraj Pandey & Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Yaara’. Apart from these which will release shortly, I am currently working on 4 interesting films with diverse subjects.