Remixes of popular tracks fail to live up to the hype, get panned
A wave of remixes that hit the country in the early 2000s opened up a rather interesting portal of nostalgia and retro tracks. It introduced a whole new generation to popular and obscure Hindi film music, and even today, one can’t help but shake a leg to the remix of tracks like Kaanta Laga and Yeh Vaada Raha.
However, times change, and so does the idea of what works and what doesn’t. Despite a host of remixed tracks being added to Bollywood movies in the recent past, the tracks have met with mere lukewarm responses at best from the audience.
The most recent one is the remake of ’90s hit Hawa Hawa in Mubarakan, and it’s been getting more than its share of flak. OK Jaanu’s Humma Humma remix kicked up a storm of criticism by ardent fans of the iconic ’90s track. Then there are the likes of Laila Main Laila, Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast, among several other remade classics that have all been dragged over the coals by music lovers. But why have the songs failed to make an impact?
Rapper Hard Kaur slams the laziness that goes on behind the scenes while recreating a classic. “Every label approaches a song with the idea of making money. And the first idea in their head today is to make a song for the new generation by obviously messing with an already good song,” she rolls her eyes. “Take into consideration today’s generation; they’re in their twenties mostly. So for them, a Humma Humma doesn’t hold the same nostalgic feel like it does for us. But what sells with the young generation? Hip hop and electronic music — so producers fuse the two together and give you the song you listen to.”
Playback singer Javed Ali too agrees that tampering with originals isn’t the greatest idea. “I believe the first original creation is unmatched — it had a charm like no other. Today, we can technically modify a song by adding new sounds,” he states confidently.
Point out that the music has received a crazy amount of hits on YouTube and Hard Kaur counters that numbers aren’t the best way to gauge the success of a song. “You know very well these numbers are brought with money,” she smirks. Shashank Khaitan, whose movie Badrinath Ki Dulhania featured a remake of Tamma Tamma, defends himself saying it was his way of paying tribute to the Thanedaar hit. Giving us further insight into the making of remixes, the creator of the new Humma Humma track, Tanishk Bagchi, recalls trying his best not to mess with the original melody. “I tried playing around the melody of the original Humma Humma. If you notice, the ’90s had very catchy melodies. The songs are so dear to the audience that they don’t appreciate us musicians tinkering with them, and I tried to maintain that,” he recalls.
Despite these attempts being made with the best of intentions, it is perhaps best to follow Hard Kaur’s parting advice to make a good original track instead of tampering with an old one — it isn’t difficult.
— With inputs from Dyuti Basu
