Please be kind, don't rewind

Until last week, Saara Zamana was a song that conjured up images of Amitabh Bachchan in a brightly lit, futuristic glow suit, prancing around in an indoor auditorium, lip-syncing to Kishore Kumar’s voice. Hrithik Roshan’s upcoming film Kaabil has offered an alternative visual — a sultry Urvashi Rautela shimmying away in a short dress and high heels. If numbers are to be believed, then within a day of its release, the song had more than two lakh views. Then there was The Humma Song from OK Jaanu, which was a pale attempt at remaking the ’90s cult hit, Humma Humma. While it received the hits, the reception was drab, and Remo Fernandes, who sang the original, called it a “a pale, insipid” version.

Next in line is Ram Sampath’s Laila o Laila for Raees, which will replace Zeenat Aman with Sunny Leone. Earlier this year, Baar Baar Dekho introduced a new rendition of Kala Chashma. One would be forgiven for feeling like the airwaves are suddenly a heady mix of nostalgia with an electronic vibe.  

But insiders think it’s a trend which too shall pass. “This trend has started lately,” says Gourov Dasgupta who recreated Haseeno Ka Deewana for Kaabil, with his long time collaborator Roshin. “There’s a certain recall value to the old songs, no doubt. And it’s not that all songs fail — songs like Dheere Dheere did work. There are big guys in the industry who suggest these ideas,” he says.

As a composer, Gourov likes to keep a little bit of himself in every song that he creates. “Essentially, it must sound good. For example, one wouldn’t be able to recognise the song from the intro, we have kept an element of surprise in the song,” he adds. Gourov, like most artistes, loves original ideas, but this is a trend one must reconcile with for now. “As a musician, one must add something to the rendition — which doesn’t happen with most remakes. But one must fit into any given situation. We cannot just do what we like, we need to be versatile and also cater to the need,” says the music composer, who will be releasing his solo project Cosmic Roulette, next year.

Sara Zamana The original (Left) was from the film Yaarana; (right) still from the new rendition.

“Whatever it is, I try to give it my best shot; you can’t be bothered about the consequences or feedback. We leave it to destiny. At some point an artist must let go of his work and move on to the next project,” he says.

Composers are not the only ones who work on the rendition; there are lyricists who have to add more words to the classics. “This is the requirement of the industry. If I don’t do it, then someone else will,” remarks lyricist Kumaar, who wrote Baby Doll, which went on to garner a lot of praise for having a distinct Gulzarish touch.

According to Kumaar, remakes are not always a good idea. He admits that he wouldn’t like if words were added to Baby Doll. “Who likes to recreate classics? I didn’t come to Mumbai to add words to classics. But I am sure that this is one of those phases and hopefully, the industry will soon get over it,” he says, with hope.

Considering he is adding songs to lyricist Anjaan’s works, a stalwart who penned several hits of his era like Khaike Paan Banaraswala and Rote Hue Aate Hain Sab, Kumaar admits that he doesn’t allow himself to be overburdened by the responsibility. “I know for a fact that my words cannot overpower the already famous lyrics. And no matter what we write, we will be blamed. So it’s okay. Moreover, all people need in a song is an element, which they can dance or relate to. Do you think they bother much about who wrote the additional lyrics?” he asks.

While Kumaar wants producers in the industry to have more faith in contemporary musicians and let them create new music, rapper and musician, Hard Kaur thinks musicians these days are just ‘lazy’.

“They don’t want to write new music, but remix old ones and turn the classics to utter sh*t. It has become a business now.”

“I understand how it is business — it’s about the money and box office, but what’s at the core of it? I have had so many meetings where directors and producers who tell me, ‘Aapka gaana hi toh bachayega movie ko.’ Why? What is wrong with their movie?” she asks, mockingly.  

“I think it needs to get clearer that old classics are classics for a reason, and people aren’t even doing a decent job of remaking them. Making money and all is understood, but one can’t forget the reason they got into this profession,” Kaur adds. Partly, she thinks the problem is with the current system. “Earlier, there was one music director who used to make music for the entire movie. Today, joh sasta banayega woh music director. No one has a clue, but everyone thinks they know everything,” she rues. “Today, thankfully, the audience is smart enough to reject a bad song,” she concludes, firmly.

 — inputs by Pooja Salvi