| Rajesh Roshan -- OUR
DREAM IS TO GIVE OUR BEST TO EACH OTHER |
Kaho
naa... pyaar hai
As soon as Guddu (Rakesh Roshan) announced the film, everywhere
I went, I was besieged by people wanting me to listen to their versions
of the title song. And what was interesting was that all these versions
were impressive. This put a lot of pressure on me. For the first
time I felt unsure of being able to create a tune of my own. I composed
several tunes but delayed playing them to my brother. Then one day
after an exhaustive meeting, just as Guddu was leaving, a bit shyly
I made him listen to my new composition. He was already at the door
by that time but heard me out, as is his habit, with a blank expression.
When I finished he asked me to play it again. “That’s
it,” he said, clapping his hands. “This is the tune, it’s
going to work.”
Ibrahim Aqsh wrote the lyrics, under Guddu’s supervision, of
course. There is a line in the song, Dil mera har baar sun ne ko
bekaraar hain... Kaho na pyaar hai.... I wasn’t convinced of
the earlier line and said so. But Guddu insisted on having it. He
said it emphasised the mind frame of a woman in love and he was
right.
The recording with Alka Yagnik started at 10 a.m. and was completed
at 10 p.m. Late at night, after I reached home, I heard the song
again and felt something was missing. So I phoned Alka and asked
her to come for re-recording the next morning. This time we did
it in one take and the quality of rendition was far superior. At
the end of it all even Alka noticed the difference and said that
it was worth going through all the trouble.
Jaaneman
Jaaneman
This was amongst the first songs to be recorded. The lyrics are
by Saawan Kumar Tak who is not a professional song writer. When
he committed to writing the song he was not very confident but he
delivered it in a couple of hours. After picturising the song we
edited it out in the rush print because it was coming between two
other songs and Guddu felt that having three songs coming together
in quick succession might be suffocating for the audience. But after
15 weeks when the film continued to be rock steady in the box-office
charts, we put the song back in the film and the collections improved.
There’s an interesting anecdote with Asha Bhosle connected
with this song. One of the lines Udhar ja raat hain, sabera hain
idhar has an upbeat tune to it, very similar to RD Burman’s
style. Ashaji perhaps because of emotional reasons, just couldn’t
sing that line effectively. We did several retakes before she finally
got it right. When she was leaving she said, “I’ve sung
thousands of songs but I’m going to remember this one for ever.
Yeh ek line, ne bada sataya...”
Ek
pal ka jeena
This is a very fast-paced number and such numbers are always in
danger of sounding similar. The point was how to make it sound different.
The other disadvantage being that you had to sustain the beat for
a good three minutes. Our only asset was that despite it being a
discotheque number, the words were philosophical, which was a good
change.
Vijay Akela, a new lyricist wrote, the song. What is special about
him is that he wrote and sang his words in metre. It’s a rare
quality and definitely not common amongst newcomers.
I went to Filmalaya Studio when they were shooting the song. Hrithik
had a splitting headache and whenever the pain became unbearable
he would just hold his head and squat on the floor. This continued
for the whole day. When he met me in the make-up room, he said that
if he didn’t have a headache, he could have done the steps
much better. I liked his confidence. And the next day, when his
headache subsided, he proved it.
 Pyaar
ki kashti mein
All creative work is eventually team work and this song
is proof of that. Guddu had been preparing me for a song that he
wanted to shoot in a ship in mid-ocean and pestering me to give
him something extraordinary. Those were the days of the Titanic
hangover. We were trying out several options but nothing came upto
our expectations. Then one day, when I was visiting Guddu on the
sets, I heard him humming a tune which he supported with dummy words.
That was the beginning of this song.
It was beautifully picturised and when you watch it today I doubt
if anyone realises that the dancers had a tough time balancing themselves
because the ship kept tilting all the time.
Na
tum jaano na hum
I regard this as the best song of the film, definitely my favourite.
When I first sang it, Hrithik recorded it and kept the cassette
in his car. It’s his favourite too.
Ibrahim Aqsh wrote the words and Lucky Ali sang the final version.
Since Lucky is a pop singer I thought that it would be safer to
record him line by line. But he insisted on recording the whole
song in one go. He insisted it didn’t matter how long it took,
if necessary he would sing all night. And that’s what he did.
He sang till the wee hours of the morning. That’s what sets
true artistes apart. They get so emotionally involved with their
work.
Another singer in Lucky’s place after such a big hit would
have signed at least a dozen songs. Lucky has sung just one song
since. He’s not in the rut. He sings from the heart...and touches
your heart.
Chand
sitare
This was the muhurat song. Guddu always starts a film with a recording.
All the bigwigs of the industry were present. JP Dutta...Yash Chopra...Call
it intuition or just experience, but all of them predicted that
the music would be a success. I particularly remember Yash Chopra’s
words.
He said, “It feels like you are about to create something different.”
I’ve realised that whenever there is a vacuum in the heart
and you are reassured, your spirits soar. When you avoid making
eye contact with people you love, it means you are failing somewhere.
For this song too, I troubled my singer a lot. Kumar Sanu said he
hadn’t worked this hard since he was a newcomer.
Dil
ne dil ko pukara
It was the last song to be recorded and by then Guddu had had his
fill of good music and so wasn’t fussy. I suggested we take
a new singer, Babool Supriyo, and he agreed. Whenever Guddu and
I agree instantly, it means we’ve expended our energies to
disagree. Otherwise everyone in the unit is used to our ferocious
outbursts and often feel scared for us. But always, we surprise
them by bouncing back with characteristic humour, proving that blood
is thicker than any other ties.
Even though Guddu is older than me by four years and is the captain
of the film, he has never dominated me with his views. On the contrary,
he is over indulgent towards me and lets me participate in script
discussions which is not my business. We have a solid, healthy working
relationship to which there is a new addition, Hrithik. All of us
accept outside assignments but our dream is to give our best with
each other. The advantage of working with loved ones is that there
is no excess baggage. What is being received is exactly what is
being received. It’s a liberating feeling.
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Also see>>>>
Rakesh Roshann -- "The
chemistry between the film and the audience has to be correct"
Hrithik Roshan -- THE CHALLENGE
ISN’T OVER
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