HUMM'bug or what

‘This #TheHummaSong sounds like it was composed on a Nokia 5110. A phone made in 1998. Where the original Humma song should have stayed!’ ‘Also, can we please stop putting Badshah into everything. He is a rapper, not Garam masala, bloody!’ ‘They made Rahman and Badshah work together to remix Humma Humma, and you thought worst of 2016 has already happened lol.’ These were some of the reactions of people on Twitter to rapper Badshah’s rendition of Humma Humma  for OK Jaanu. Although the chemistry between Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor was somewhat sizzling, it seemed like it wasn’t quite enough to step up to the original version of Mani Ratnam’s classic 90s super hit from Bombay. While social media exploded unkindly, we ask musicians what they thought of it.

Remixes are great, hell, millennials have grown up to everything from Bin Tere Sanam to Chandu Ke Chacha. “A song should be remixed or redone only if it can sound equally good or better,” opines Bengaluru-based rapper, Karthik Gubbi. “The rap parts didn’t have a punch to them. While remixing, one should also remember to add value to the song – explain the situation, the intensity of the situation if it’s a serious one, or perhaps, add a groove factor to it if it’s a party song,” he explains, voting for the original any day. Another city-based crooner, Anisha Peter associates nostalgia with remixes. “They are a great way to acquaint the new generation to old classics,” she says, recalling remixes from pop albums she grew up watching. “But to use remixes in a movie may not be the best idea. It shows lack of creativity. You’re also not giving fresh talent an opportunity to do something new. So, this remix isn’t very appealing to me,” she confesses.

Not everyone is miffed about it though. Take musician Bindhumalini Narayanaswamy for instance. The Carnatic singer was thankful that we got her to listen to the new version. “Remixes are a risk as you are challenging an existing idea that has already been deeply ingrained in the psyche of people and the musician who is reinterpreting it,” she says. What is more challenging according to her is to shed these expectations and look at it objectively. “I actually loved the new Humma. It is far more sensual and intimate. The treatment of the song and the video keeps it to just the two of them and it didn’t need a hot sizzling group dance with loud music in the courtyard to show intimacy between a man and woman (as it is treated in the original). Hats off to Rahman for allowing himself to not be stuck in one thought and letting himself evolve and explore. That’s the fun part of creating. Making a song from scratch, I feel, is far easier than working around an existing one and making it a hit,” she says. You’ve heard it, now it’s your call!