Chhaayaageet #106 - “Aap fail ho gaye. Aapko koi gaana vaana nahin milne wala hai.”
You have failed. You are not going to get any song.
He has just finished singing the jingle. This has not been satisfying for his soul but it sure does pay the bills. Who knows what his destiny has in store.
He is the son of a famous qawwali singer, and later on, learned to sing sufi and qawwali music from various experts around him. In fact, he was so impressed with one of his teachers that he even changed his last name. And now after all that, he is here in Bombay singing jingles.
“Tumne kabhi Rahman saheb ke saath kaam kiya hai?” Have you ever worked with Rahman sir? One of the leading voice artists who is doing a voiceover for the same jingle asks him. The voice artist is impressed with his voice.
“Nahin, koi chance nahin mila. Meri badi tamanna hai ki mein unke saath kabhi kaam karoon.” No, I didn't get a chance. It is one of my lifelong desires to work with him. The fact that he is even asked whether he has sung with Rahman sir is itself a big compliment.
“Kabhi na kabhi zaroor kaam karoge unke saath. Tumhare jaise singers ko bahut like karte hain woh.” Someday you will work with him. He prefers to work with singers like you. The voice artist speaks a prophecy. He knows someone who knows A.R. Rahman.
A few days pass by. One fine day the singer gets a call. “This is Rahman speaking. I have heard about you. Can you come to Chennai tomorrow?” He cannot believe his ears. With difficulty, he gathers himself and responds.
“Yes sir. I will be in Chennai for a concert in a few days.”
“Why don’t you finish your concert and then come meet me.” Rahman sir hangs up.
After the concert in Chennai, he heads over to Rahman sir’s residence. Life has been full of ups and downs with jingles and concerts. This could be the break he is looking for. The pressure of performing his best drives some anxiety. He reaches the composer’s house all tensed up. He is hoping he can shake off the nervousness.
“I want to hear what you are capable of. Sing for me some of your favorite songs.” The composer is eager to evaluate the young singer.
Nervousness creeps in. He starts singing. One song after another. His nervousness only heightens instead of dissipating.
“Aap fail ho gaye. Aapko koi gaana vaana nahin milne wala hai.” You have failed. You are not going to get any song to sing. He says to himself in despair. Finally, it’s time to shake hands with Rahman sir and leave. What a disaster!
A few months go by. He has been getting breaks here and there. A few of his songs have become popular. But nowhere close to being a household name. There is still so much to achieve in life.
One day he gets a call. “I am calling from Rahman sir’s office. He would like you to come again to Chennai.”
He is pleasantly shocked to hear that. After the last dismal performance, he was not expecting a callback from the famous composer. But he can’t worry about that now. Nobody in their right mind says No to A.R. Rahman. “Ok, I will be there.”
He reaches Chennai and is eager to impress the composer again.
Pleasantries out of the way, Rahman sir says, “I would like to check the range of your voice before we record with you.”
This makes the singer nervous again. He delivers high and low notes that the composer wants him to sing.
“Now I know what composition to use based on the notes you are capable of.” The singer is relieved to know that he is still in the game.
It is time to record the song. The singer understands the composition and starts singing. “Don’t make your own variations. Follow the composition.”
The composer is a bit annoyed with the liberties that the singer is taking. The singer feels insulted. He has been learning classical and Sufi music from the great stalwarts and every time he has added his own twists or variations, everyone including his gurus have applauded. So why doesn’t Rahman sir like it?
The genius composer knows the thoughts going through the singer’s head and smiles at him. “This is a very simple song with a simple tune. Just stick to the composition.”
Javed Ali sang Jashn-E-Bahaara for the film Jodha Akbar. The lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar and the music was composed by A.R. Rahman.
Javed Ali’s original name was Javed Hussain. He started singing at a very early age with his father Ustad Hamid Hussain, a popular qawwali singer. Ghazal singer Ghulam Ali heard his voice and felt that he could become a great singer in the future. Ghulam Ali guided him and gave him a chance to sing in his live concerts. As a tribute and honor to his guru Ghulam Ali, he changed his name from Javed Hussain to Javed Ali.
Javed Ali started his career by singing radio jingles in Bombay. This is where he came across Brij Bhushan who was the voice artist working alongside Javed Ali. Brij Bhushan knew Javed and his family from Javed’s childhood days. He was very impressed with his singing voice and brought up the possibility of working with A.R. Rahman. The first opportunity that Javed got to impress Rahman sir, he did not do so well. He was terrified to perform in from of him and felt that he had lost a golden opportunity to shine in front of one of the biggest composers of the time. But lady luck had other plans for him. He got another chance to present back in front of Rahman sir which is when Rahman sir decided to record his voice for Jashn-E-Bahaara.
Javed Ali continued to work with Rahman sir and delivered other big hits such as Arziyan from Delhi-6 and Kun Faya from Rockstar among many others. The song, Jashn-E-Bahaara made a clean sweep at the IIFA awards bagging the Best Music Director, Best Lyricist, and Best Male Singer. Javed Akhtar also won the Filmfare Best Lyricist award for Jashn-E-Bahaara.
Singer: Javed Ali
Music: A.R. Rahman
*ing: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Director: Ashutosh Gowarikar
Film: Jodha Akbar (2008)