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Sandeep Chowta

Hearing him is a Mast!
If Rahman lifts a song nobody will have a problem with that. They respect the man too much. Nobody said anything about a song in Jeans being similar to RD’s O mera sona re. I’ll give you an album by Vangelis and then you listen to Roja. Rahman listens to a lot of Vangelis.

The stunning strains of Sandeep Chowta’s background music wafts across the screen in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Vaastav, even as the ebullient harmonies of Ruki ruki si zindagi pervade the air in Mast. The linking factor between the two films released on the same day is Sandeep Chowta. The young composing whizkid is all set to conquer new horizons. There’s an excitement in his glorious gaits which promise to take Hindi film music into the next millennium, kicking and dragging.

In person, Sandeep is completely unassuming. There’s the quiet self-assurance in him of a river that runs deep. When he talks about music he rattles off names, figures and cadences with a glib fluency that would appear like exhibitionism in another music director. Not Sandeep Chowta. Though the impact of his music in Mast has given him a new self-confidence he isn’t smug about his abilities. The insecurities of showbiz still have him baffled. Nevertheless, he goes on to talk about his music.

The astonishing music in Mast seems tailored for the film.
Absolutely. It’s unquestionably a musical. The movie has got nine songs and it occupies 45 minutes of the film’s playing time. For a change, I had a chance to do both the vocal and background music. Otherwise I have to constantly interpret some other composer’s vocal output in the background. The only time I enjoyed doing this was when I had to interpret Vishal’s songs in Satya. I loved Vishal’s music, and he liked what I did. Otherwise another composer would have probably glared at me and wondered what the hell I’ve done to his songs. (laughs).

Your background music in Satya and Kaun seemed to operate at a tangent to the songs and the given mood of the scenes. How come?
I believe a background score should work completely parallel to the film’s mood. Basically, the music should contradict what the audience is watching. I don’t punctuate and hammer in the performances through my music. I leave the performances to make their own impact. I think the traditional way of playing background music which is known as ‘changeover background’ kills the movie’s impact. With Satya we decided to break that tradition. The background music in Kaun is my classic. It’s one of the best films I’ve worked on. A lot of people told me that Kaun wouldn’t have worked without the background music. They don’t realise that the whole film was designed with the background music in mind.

Which do you find more challenging. The background scores or the songs?
I have to say, songs. I’ll tell you why. As musicians we tend to get carried away doing what we want to do. When working on the songs we have to work completely in accordance with the requirements of the theme. A certain inflexible discipline is required for doing songs in a film. We have to pay attention to the content form.

Do you think a musician can get self-indulgent while doing a background score?
I wouldn’t call it self-indulgence. I enjoy composing music for cinema. Music without words can emote. Music making comes with in-built editing mode. With background music I can get a little experimental, but without allowing myself to get carried away. With songs I can’t get experimental at all. I can’t sound different for the sake of sounding different. That discipline is where the director comes in. Ram Gopal Varma is very clear about what he wants. He won’t let me go overboard.

How did RD Burman’s Poocho na yaar kya hua make its way into Mast?
Ramu asked for a reference for a song situation. I said, how about this? And I played Poocho na yaar. Ramu said, great that’s what we need, let’s do this! I said, sorry that’s RD Burman’s song. He didn’t know it was RD Burman’s.

I hope RD appreciates your sly tribute from heaven.
This whole concept of doing ‘standards’ on versions is nothing new. It’s done out in the West too. It suits the situation. All the songs in Mast are script-bound. Except the title song which we needed as an item to announce the film. But Ramu found a perfect place for it in the film.

How do you respond to the charge that the music in Mast replicates Rahman’s rhythms?
I keep getting feelers for ‘Rahmanescue’ music from producers. I think there’s absolutely nothing of Rahman in Mast. What happens is, a lot of the musicians who play for him also play for me. Like the gifted Naveen, the flute player. I didn’t use him at all in Mast. I used Rakesh Chaurasia who’s from Hariprasad Chaurasia’ school of flute-playing. The musicians one uses really have an effect on the profile of the music. Like the bass player Keith who plays for Rahman. You know it’s Keith the minute he comes on in Rangeela, Hindustani and now in Mast.

Are you a fan of AR Rahman?
Rahman is unique. He doesn’t have set ragas. Yet his chord progressions are beautiful. Take a Tamil film Duet. That’s where you get to hear Rahman at his best. In that film there’s a song called Anjali anjali. That was a trendsetter.

Don’t you think Rahman’s unpredictability has become predictable?
I’m very fond of Rahman’s music. There was one song in Taal where he got a chance to have fun. He took off on his own trip when it sounds like Ghai said, ‘Okay now bring back the theme music’. Rahman has been restricted in the score. It’s Subhash Ghai trying to let Rahman be Rahman. But it’s Rahman according to Ghai.

Besides Rahman who are the other composers you look up to?
They’re no more. I loved SD Burman. And I’m a hardcore fan of RD Burman. And then there’s Madan Mohan. I’ll have to stop there. The three had an amazing style and they lent their own signature to their tunes.

Tell me about the private album that you’re working on.
Basically, I’ve been collecting material for it for the last ten months. I’ve been talking to Sony and they’re very interested in working with me. I want to go out and record with musicians from all over the world whom I’ve admired all my life. Since it’s an international company, with Sony there’s will be no copyright problems. Some of these musicians I admire may not be big names, for instance the Irish musician Davie Spillane who was a key player in a musical called Riverdance. That’s where the music in Titanic was inspired from. In fact I made Rahman listen to Riverdance. He bought the CD thereafter. It’s very enigmatic music, very for-the-soul-music. Not like guys smoking pot and making it happen.

You don’t smoke pot?
Someone asked me if I do. I said I don’t. Why do I need to get high on anything when I have music?

How familiar are you with the antecedents of Hindi film music?
I was a hardcore Hindi music buff until 1982. After that I lost touch when Bappi Lahiri got into a Rambha ho series. Even Aashiqui. It could be the greatest hit of all times. But somehow I never liked the music in Aashiqui. I was a hardcore RD Burman fan. I even loved his tunes in Ram Gopal Varma’s Drohi. It’s a pity I never got to meet the man. But I did get to meet a lot of people associated with him. I think he was very very talented. He defined both vocal and background music in Hindi films. I think Sholay contains by far the best background score in Hindi cinema. His music grows on you.

And what about Laxmikant-Pyarelal?
Their theme from Karz was amazing. But I was completely shattered when I found out where that came from. It was written by George Benson’s keyboard player Ronnie Foster. One day I was listening to this CD called Weekend In LA and I found myself listening to the original Karz. My illusions were completely gone. Later L-P adapted George Michael’s Faith and a whole lot of other international hits.

But they also did a lot of very original music.
Oh yeah. All said and done I loved Karz. But after Rahman the only composer who has really moved me is Vishal. I loved Geela geela pani. I thought it was the most apt song in Satya. It really went well with the mood of the movie.

But the general impression is that Vishal’s songs got sidelined in favour of your background score.
I don’t know. All I can say is the songs didn’t fit into the film. But they were very nice songs. Badalon se and Geela geela pani were great. Unfortunately the duet Tu mere paas bhi hai crash-landed in the wrong place. When the song is incompatible with the mood then people just hate its presence.

How would you feel working with some musically illiterate filmmakers in Mumbai?
See, if someone tells me he wants six minutes for the same lyric then I’ll tell him I’m not the person to compose for him. It means I’m not in tune with the director. Ramu never rejected any tune without a convincing justification. I need a solid explanation if some filmmaker tells me that he doesn’t like a tune. Why don’t you like it, you tell me. It’s not an ego thing. It’s just a need within.

How do you plan to survive in Mumbai where nothing succeeds like excess?
If someone comes to me with an obscene amount of money then I’ll just go ahead and do the project blindly. I can’t get Ram Gopal Varma each time. But I’m happy doing the background music for Sunny Deol’s Dillagi and Shah Rukh Khan’s Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. I was asked to compose music in Vinod Chopra’s new film Mission Kashmir along with Vishal. I couldn’t understand how two composers could collaborate on the same score. Vishal and I are contemporaries and we have a long way to go. I think Vishal was also supposed to assist Chopra as a director. Chopra also wanted me to shift base from Chennai to Mumbai which I couldn’t do.

Do you think your vast knowledge of musical styles will come in the way of success in films?
Not really. I think I’ve found my sound and I don’t care if it sounds overly Westernised. It’s my sound. If I listen to Hollywood composer Jerry Goldsmith for a month my music will have this influence. What’s wrong with that? I love Jerry Goldsmith’s music.

See, blatant ripoffs are what cause a problem. If Rahman lifts a song nobody will have a problem with that. They respect the man too much. Nobody said anything about a song in Jeans being similar to RD’s O mera sona re. Or that love song in Kabhi Na Kabhi having strains from Simon-Garfunkel’s Scarborough Fair. I’ll give you an album by Vangelis and then you listen to Roja. Rahman listens to a lot of Vangelis.

You seem to have done in-depth research on Rahman’s influences. Does that provide you with a security blanket?
No my point is, no one is deliberately ripping off a tune, unless a producer comes with a tape and tells you to duplicate the song. I’d never do that. That’s why I have the reputation of being a pain in the arse.

Any future projects?
I’ve agreed to produce Sunidhi Chauhan’s album in the coming months. She’s amazing. If you hear her do the Carpenters’ Masquerade you’ll die. She can sound exactly like any singer she wants to; Karen Carpenter Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Randy Crawford. Everyone in Chennai is zapped by her ability to grasp tunes. She has an unlimited range. With her as my singer I can compose anything. She’s international material. Her knowledge of music is unlimited.

After Mast which is your next blockbuster in Mumbai?
I’ve got Ramu’s next with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. We’ve already started work on that. Esmayeel Shroff was very keen that I do his film. I remembered his wonderful music in Thodisi Bewafaai. When I met him I found he was in a hurry. He wanted the tunes before he rushed off for location hunting. It’s very difficult for me to work under such circumstances. I wouldn’t do that kind of work.

Subhash K Jha