Striking the right chord

Remixes of old songs in Bollywood films are common, but this year the level touched a new high, with almost every film having a rehashed song in its soundtrack. 2016 goes out with Sunny Leone in a reworked Laila Main Laila song from Raees, and Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur starring in a reworked version of Humma Humma from the Ok Jaanu. While the audience loved Laila, Humma Humma didn’t get rave reviews.

So, is there a formula that makes a reworked song click with the audience? “No,” says singer Armaan Malik, who has sung rehashed numbers like Tumhe Apna Banane Ki, Pyaar Manga Hai and Dil Mein Chhupa Loonga, among others. “It’s great to give a new-age take to a golden melody or a dance number. However, only if the recreation is done tastefully, you have a winner on your hands,” he says.

According to Sai Karthik, music director of Tollywood film Supreme which featured reworked songs, “The choice of songs remains with the director. As a composer, my role is only to do the reworking part well. The flavour and beats should remind the audience about the original song and not completely go off-track. For the audience, it is very important to feel the connection,” he says.

The trend of reworking old songs is not new to Bollywood. A decade back, Vishal Dadlani had given a quirky twist to one of Kishore Kumar’s classics, Bachna Ae Haseeno, and it was a runaway hit. But he has a different opinion now. “It should absolutely stop now. Taking this easy route is not taking the industry anywhere. We did the rehashed song as a tribute to the legendary R.D. Burman and Kishore Kumar. But I really didn’t see it taking the shape of a trend.”

So does the responsibility to make a song work remain with the singer and composer? “Absolutely not,” says Shakun Batra, director of Ki and Ka, which featured the reworked version of High Heels. He says, “The trend of reworking classics has long existed in Hollywood, and it has now come to India. As far as the video is concerned, it surely helps to have stars in it to give it a boost.”

Echoing his thoughts, Rahul Dholakia, director of Raees, feels it’s a long and tedious process to create a song that connects with the audience. “For Laila, we spent hours on the percussions to capture the feel of Qurbani and for audiences to relate to the instruments. Same went with Sunny’s look and costumes. The production design was also important and the way it was shot was brilliant.”

He further adds, “The film is set in the same era as the original song and we have a running narrative. Besides this, Shah Rukh Khan is in it and so automatically it becomes a bigger song, and Sunny has performed very well. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics are beautifully penned, so you don’t miss the punch of the original lyrics.”

Prasoon Joshi: Recreating a song thoughtfully is a  good approach. It is when a remix is used as a formula with no craft visible that it dilutes the intrinsic merits of the original song. Classics must be handled with care, and not casually.
(— As told to Subhash K. Jha)

Amaal Mallik: We composers are forced to remix songs. I only do a remix if I can add my touch to the original. Several legendary songs are destroyed if not reconstructed sensibly. I agree remixes are now in the overdrive mode. I can vouch for the fact that the recreations I’ve done are not in bad taste. Out of the 17 songs I composed in 2016, only two were remakes, and in both cases the original artistes have told me they loved my version. These days around two to three classics are being recreated for one film. If I refuse to do it, I stand to lose the project.
(— As told to Subhash K. Jha)

Hits
1. Kar Gayi Chull from Kapoor & Sons
2. Aaj Phir… from Hate Story 2
3. Kaala Chasma from Baar Baar Dekho
4. High Heels from Ki & Ka
5. Har Kisi Ko Nahin Milta from Boss
6. Ae Zindagi from Dear Zindagi
7. Laila Main Laila from Raees
Misses
1. Tumhein Apna Banane Ki from Hate Story 3
2. Haseeno Ka Deewana from Kaabil
3. Humma Humma from Ok Jaanu