ON THE BORDER OF SUCCESS

I want to concentrate on composing at the moment,” he asserts. The only reason he took up Border, Aadesh says, was because he found the project challenging. When Aadesh heard that JP Dutta was making a war film, he approached Dutta but since Anu Malik had already been finalised as music director, Dutta, not wanting to disappoint the enthusiastic youung composer, asked Aadesh to compose some background tracks. “I was so excited," Aadesh remembers. He immediately returned home and composed some scores even though hadn’t even seen a frame of the film. He asked JP to come over and listen to his compositions. JP heard them, was impressed and Aadesh was on.

One day JP called him over to listen to the chart-topping song Sandese aaten hai. Aadesh was so moved by the song, he immediately sent flowers to Anu Malik and Javed Akhtar. JP wanted Aadesh to compose the theme music along the same line. It was a challenge composing something as good as Sandese... and he gave it his best shot . When JP heard his music he exclaimed that if he had heard the theme music first he would have used it for the title song. For the theme music, Aadesh used odd beats, nine and eleven, which is a unique combination, rarely used by Indian composers.

To herald the coming of Pakistanis JP was looking for a particular sound but he couldn’t explain exactly what he had in mind. Aadesh also knew what he wanted but he couldn’t exactly define it. One day, he sat on his saxaphone and his fingers started playing a slow, rhythamic tump, thump... and he knew he had his beat. JP too loved the sound that the audience learnt later, so well, to associate with the coming of the enemy.

“These challenging situations you find only in war and action films," admits Aadesh adding with a sigh,"And such films are few and far between."

Aadesh likes to experiment with the singer’s voice. In Shastra he made Udit sing the fast, rap Paro number and lent his voice a new dimension. In Chetan Anand’s latest venture, yet untitled, Aadesh has managed to record with the unique combination of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Jagjit Singh. “It was an unforgettable experience,” he beams. Another number he is very proud of is the one his favourite actor, Amitabh Bachchan, rendered in Lal Badshah. “I loved every moment of that song,” he says.

Aadesh also loved every moment he spent working as a musician under veteran music directors like Salil Choudhary, Shankar-Jaikishen, Sapan-Jagmohan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal and RD Burman. He has learnt a lot from them. “For one, they never used to copy or lift songs. And however stiff the competition, they all had respect for each other’s talent. Panchamda would never hesitate to call up L-P to congratulate them on a particular number. Today, music composers don't share the same camaradrie and respect for each other's work,” he laments.

Aadesh is quite satistfied with the way his career is taking shape. He has some major releases lined up in the coming months — Lal Badshah, Shikaari, Angarey and Bade Dilwale to name a few. And with the Screen statue on his shelf, his first major award he has reason to be optimistic. "I hope there will be many more such awards. But I know I still have miles to go...