Chhaayaageet #236 - "This one is brilliant. The other two are shit."
The stars glitter in the sky, and also on the ground at the 51st Filmfare Awards at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The young music composer is a tad bit nervous. He hears the announcement for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. “The nominees are: Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Adnan Sami, Himesh Reshammiya, Vishal-Shekhar, and…”, and then his name. Did he hear his name? Emotions well up inside him. Is he ready for this moment? The announcement continues: “And the Filmfare goes to…pause…Shankar Ehsaan Loy.” Cheers erupt around him.
The young composer relaxes. He has missed out on one of the most prestigious awards in the Hindi film industry. But for some strange reason he is not massively disappointed.
As the main awards conclude, the announcers move on to Critics Awards, then the Technical Awards like Best Story, Best Screenplay, Best Dialogue, etc., and now the Special Awards.
It is time for the RD Burman Award. Named in honor of the prodigious music director, the award recognizes upcoming music talent in the Hindi film industry. The first award was given in 1995, to none other than AR Rahman. Luminous names like Vishal Bhardwaj, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Shreya Ghoshal, and others have been accorded the honor.
The young composer is distracted by something. All of a sudden he hears his name. The winner of the RD Burman Award. His name. The upcoming music talent. Best Debut Music Director. That’s him. He feels the weight of the award in his hands as he receives it. It is not just the weight of the object, but what it means now and going forward.
What a journey it has been. Just a few years ago he was a client service executive in an ad agency. He wasn’t even on the creative side. A fluke got him to compose ad jingles. And now he has won the RD Burman Award for his work as a composer in a major motion picture. It doesn’t happen like this, this easily. So many people in the industry, including stalwarts, have told him that. A kid who comes to Bombay from Delhi, where he was living a secure life composing jingles for a living, gets a chance of a lifetime with a big banner. He cannot even comprehend the scale of that.
He meets Manohari Da, RD Burman’s arranger and master musician, who tells him, “Ye shahar hai na, ek hi chance deta hai. Aur tumko aate hi chance mil gaya. Tum apne jaise karo. Tum idhar udhar mat dekho.” This city gives only one chance. And you have gotten this chance right away. Do it your way. Don’t look here or there.
Another maestro, Bhupen Hazarika, tells him, “We spent a lifetime to get an opportunity like this. Tumko pehle hi mil chuka hai. (You have gotten it right away.) Do something which you believe in. Baki sab bhool jao. (Forget everything else.) Koi bhi help chahiye to bolo. (If you want any help, tell me.)”
The young man comes back to the present moment. He looks at the Filmfare statue in his hands. He cannot imagine how the stars have all come together to bring this boy, who had no connection, had no idea, was a nobody, to help him meet his moment.
The weight of the statue in his hands carries the debt of all these amazing people, masters of their craft, but deeply humble and willing to help a rank newcomer. They are guardian angels who just appeared on the path of this unknown boy from nowhere. His eyes well up. More memories flood his mind.
He remembers the moment he was asked to attend the shoot of one of the songs in the film. The diva herself had asked to meet the young composer. She had told him that she was anxious and hopeful that she would do justice to the song on film. As the song was being shot, she would look at him apprehensively and ask if she was doing it alright. Imagine that? This woman, a diva like whom the industry has not seen, making eye contact with this wisp of a boy, this fresher, asking silently if she was doing ok emoting and dancing to his tunes. What did he do to deserve this kind of opportunity and this kind of respect from all these great people? Is this what they call good fortune?
He remembers the first song that was recorded in the studio, a song about a dark night, with no moon for company. This accomplished woman singer from the South of India, who must have sung thousands of songs, had flown to Bombay to record it. She had told him, “I love your composition. But will I be able to do justice to it?” What is she saying? Who are all these great people, so down to earth, and treating a first timer as if he were a veteran?
Backstage, the producer rushes to hug and congratulate him for getting the RD Burman Award for the Best Debut Music Director. The producer doesn’t stop there. “Debut nahin chahiye. (I don’t want just debut.) You know why RD Burman was RD Burman? Poora zindagi (His whole life) he didn’t think of awards. Woh dooba hua tha sangeet mein. (He was immersed in music.) Tum baki bhool jao. (You forget everything else.) Just concentrate on what you have to do. Baki things will happen. (All other things will happen.)
The young composer can only nod his head. He manages a smile, again feeling the weight of the black statue. It is a great reminder to not have his ego run amok for getting this great accolade for his first film. How kind of the producer to tell this to the young man within five minutes of getting the award - This is good. But this is not life.
The producer goes away to meet someone else. The young man’s mind takes him back to the very first days of how he even got this film. His mind rewinds to his ad jingle days.
The young lyric writer and the young composer are in the studio until late, waiting for the creative head of the ad agency to come and approve their work. The phone rings, it is the creative head, “Tum log ruko. Mein ek ghante mein aa raha hoon.” You guys wait. I will be there in one hour.
It is almost midnight. The two young men have an hour to kill. The lyric writer stretches himself on the floor. He sees the dark sky out the window. There is no moon in the sky tonight. He becomes quiet. There is silence as it is just the two of them in the studio.
Out of nowhere, the lyric writer comes up with four lines about the night. They are beautiful. “Chal tune bana,” he tells the composer. Come on, make the tune. The composer plays a few tunes in his mind and comes out with one. It is a nice tune, and goes very well with the words. They keep working in this manner. As the composer is singing the lines, the creative head walks in. The composer stops in his tracks.
“Chalo sir, jingle suntey hain,” the composer invites the creative head. Come sir, lets listen to the jingle.
“Nahin nahin, ye tum log kya gaa raha hai?” the creative head asks. No no, what is this you guys are singing?
He insists to listen to the poetry and the music composition, leaving the jingle on the back burner. The creative agency head has signed on as a film director for the producer’s next film. He is now convinced that he wants this young music composer to do the music for his film. They have worked together on jingles for years.
“Kal meri meeting hai. Ye gaana sunayenge”, he tells the composer. I have a meeting (with the producer) tomorrow. We will play this song for him.
“Lekin ek hi gaana nahin leke jaa sakte. Do aur tune bhi banao,” the creative head asks of them. But we cannot just go with one song. Make two more tunes.
The lyric writer and the composer work through the night and come up with two more tunes.
Next day, they arrive at the producer’s home. The producer listens to the three tunes. He loves the one about the night. He tells the composer, “This one is brilliant. The other two are shit.”
The young man is anxious. He knows this is his audition of sorts. Will he get to be the music director on this film?
The producer looks at this young chap from Delhi who is doing ad jingles. He asks the composer, “Yaara, tu Bangali hai?” Pal, are you Bengali?
“Ji,” the young man nods his head. Yes.
“Mere paas ek aur Bangali composer tha. Par woh tha genius,” the producer says. I had one more Bengali composer. But he was a genius.
The young man is lost in his own apprehension. He looks at the producer with a question mark on his face, not sure who the producer is talking about. The producer realizes the young man has not made the connection.
“Arre RD Burman, Pancham” the producer clarifies.
The young man feels the ground giving way beneath his feet. He folds his hands in embarrassment and says, “Sir kya kar rahe hain aap?” Sir what are you doing?
The producer continues, “Ab tere upar daro madar hai ki (Now the responsibility is on you) ye picture tu agar karega to (if you do this picture then) keep in mind that my previous Bengali composer was RD Burman. Do something which is worthy of that man.”
Shantanu Moitra composed the tune of Raat Hamari Toh and the rest of the songs of Parineeta (2005), directed by Pradeep Sarkar, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The song is sung by KS Chitra and Swanand Kirkire, who also penned the lyrics of the entire soundtrack. The song is not a lip sync song but is played in the background. Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan and Sanjay Dutt helm the star cast.
Shantanu Moitra won the RD Burman Award at the Filmfare Awards for his outstanding work in Parineeta. The entire album leaves you at a loss of words. Each song is a beautiful combination of great music, great lyrics and great singing. The music and the songs of the film won positive reviews and acclaim.
Rekha insisted on meeting Moitra to know who was the composer who had made the tunes and the song which she performed, Kaisi Paheli Zindagani. We wrote about the making of this song in Chhaayaageet #76. It also covers how Moitra got the break to switch from client services to the creative side of Pradeep Sarkar’s ad agency.
Subsequently, Moitra went on to composer music for many films of Vidhu Vinod Chopra, such as, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Eklavya: The Royal Guard, 3 Idiots.
Vidya Balan won the Filmfare for Best Female Debut, Howard Rosemeyer for Best Choreography (Kaisi Paheli). The film was nominated for 15 Filmfare awards.
KS Chitra singing Raat Hamari Toh live on stage. She humbly asked Moitra if she would be able to do justice to this song as it was all about silence. She sang it beautifully, almost as if singing it internally.
Music: Shantanu Moitra
Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire
Singers: KS Chitra, Swanand Kirkire
*ing: Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt
Director: Pradeep Sarkar
Producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Film: Parineeta (2005)