Reinventing The Remix

Amaal Mallik, who recently gave hit singles like ‘Maine tujhko DEKHA’ AND ‘HUM NAHI SUDHRENGE’, FEELS THAT THE film FRATERNITY IS NOT experimenting enough in terms of music

When it comes to composing original music, singer and composer Amaal Mallik has proven he’s got the chops. Now, with his Golmaal Again!!! hit song ‘Maine tujhko dekha’, a recreation of the iconic ‘Neend churayi meri’, he tells how and why he put a new spin on remixing

Amaal’s latest foot-tapping songs ‘Hum nahi sudhrenge’ and ‘Maine tujhko dekha’ from Golmaal Again!!! currently melting the airwaves. “I was about 15-years-old. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of

Golmaal in some way. When Rohit Shetty told me he was keen on working with me for the fourth instalment, I was super excited!” he says.

A NEW GENRE

The film presented him an opportunity to deal with a new genre, he says. “Both these songs belong to genres I have not done before. In Golmaal Again!!!, I knew the context of the film, so I didn’t want the songs to pop up just anywhere,” he says.

TAKING A CHANCE

When it came to matching the singing voice for Ajay Devgn in the song ‘Hum nahi sudhrenge’, at first, Mallik was not sure if his brother Armaan was the right choice. “He is very young and has done songs for Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra and Arjun Kapoor. I thought his voice might not match the tall, tough personality of Ajay Devgn. But Armaan has captured it so well. I was going to use four different singers for ‘Hum nahi sudhrenge’ but after listening to Armaan, Rohit Shetty decided to go with him alone,” he says.

HITTING RE-FRESH

On recreating the iconic song ‘Neend churayi meri’, Mallik shares, “When I was talking to Rohit sir about doing the recreation of ‘Neend churayi meri’, I told him that I didn’t want to do a flat-out remix. That’s why I got an entire eightline mukhada in the intro. I wanted to add freshness to the classic track. I feel we are not experimenting enough in terms of music and that is why I got voices like Neeraj Shreedhar and Sukriti Kakar for ‘Maine tujhko dekha’. Their voices were perfect.”

SWEET SUCCESS

Sure enough, the audience validated Amaal’s work. “I went to Chandan cinema with my friends to see the reaction of the audience. It felt good to see them loving the songs. We worked on these two songs for four to five months,” says the musician.

The composer continues, “Today, I’m amazed how every kid relates to ‘Hum nahi sudhrenge’. They are using it as a message to say, ‘We will do as we please’. They are uploading cover videos and trying to create a revolution. Our lyricist, Kumaarji should be applauded for coming up with a line like that.”

AHOY CAPTAIN!

The youngster is all praise for the Golmaal director. “Collaborating with Rohit Shetty was amazing. He gives you the space to do what’s right. I wanted to make an original Golmaal track. The makers understood and respected my point of view and so we stuck to ‘Maine tujhko dekha’ and ‘Hum nahi sudhrenge’.”

TRADE SECRETS

Mallik also sheds light on his creative process. “Some directors take you through the story and that helps create good music. Like Neeraj Pandey did with MS Dhoni, Sunhil Sippy with Noor and Rohit with

Golmaal. When a director understands how the music needs to be created, good songs are made. I like to know the story and create music according to the narrative and the characters. I think that makes all the difference,” he says.

REMAKES CAN BE ORIGINAL

Talking about the numerous song remakes doing the rounds, he remarks, “Recreations are tricky. For me, music has to have creativity and originality. When I try to recreate an old song, I have to add something to it that does not hamper the memory of the original.

“‘Gulabi aankhen’ in Noor was sup- posed to be an original song but was made into a remake on request. I tried to add a different touch because I have grown up listening to it and then there are other versions like Atif Aslam’s, that are so popular. Earlier too, we had old songs being rehashed like ‘Parda parda’, Bachna ‘ae haseeno’, ‘Ae zindagi gale laga le’ etc, which were done tastefully. At a recent performance, Punjabi singer Hardy Sandhu sang my version of ‘Soch na sake’ instead of his original, which makes me think that I am doing something right.”

MUSIC TO HIS EARS

Mallik talks about what a successful song means to him. “For me, if the music stays with people even if they have heard it once, that’s an achievement. Like the song Tere mere from Chef… I went to perform it an event recently. Many youngsters sang every line with me, it felt really good.”

THE FUTURE

On his future projects, Mallik says, “I’m working on a lot of singles right now, collaborating with some international artistes, getting inspired by them and learning new things in music. As for movies, I will be doing the music of Bazaar.” He adds, “I want to take a break for a while and just breathe. I have been constantly working and I want to enjoy life too.

I think that will help me create better music. I have always wanted to become somebody, to make my parents proud, and hopefully I have started on that track.”

“Music has to have creativity and originality. When I try to recreate an old song, I have to add something that does not hamper the memory of the original”