There was a time when Hindi film lyricists were shy about expressing certain words, sentiments and feelings, but the scenario is changing, say composer duo Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya.
“Earlier, we (music composers and lyricists at large) couldn’t say a few things in the songs because we were more shy then, or let’s say we used to be rosy in a love song. Now we find that artificial,” Sachin told IANS in an e-mail interview from Mumbai.
“The Hindi (music) industry has learnt to become more honest and naughty. Both in song writing and lyrics, we have learnt to appreciate a more honest approach. “As far as naughty, bad#** songs are concerned, we are getting as naughty as we can be. It’s cool and naughty, though sometimes we are on the edge. Let’s hope we don’t become vulgar,” he added.
Having composed for films like Go Goa Gone, Hero, Badlapur and Finding Fanny, the duo have now created songs for the forthcoming entertainer A Flying Jatt.
They feel that depth in songs is vanishing from Bollywood.
“We don’t think we can now stay on one song or that one tune or that one melody for too long now. The depth seems to have eloped. So much entertainment is being churned out that we wonder how the listener picks one favourite with so much choice,” Jigar told IANS.
Jigar, who has crooned numbers like Mere Naal, Piya Kesariyo, Sorry Sorry and Gulabo, says rather than focusing on giving songs a recall value, Hindi music industry has started looking at something else. “We have started looking for shock value or that immediate impact more than something that comes and makes an impact for lifetime length. Somehow we need to go deeper and more soulful and not go for only popcorn music that doesn’t last more than the popcorn itself,” he quipped.
With more and more platforms like Coke Studio, MTV Unplugged sprouting for folk artistes and independent musicians in India, Sachin says that it’s time the Indian audience looks beyond an artistes’ last Bollywood composition.
“More and more of independent space has started to find spotlight. It’s time Indian audiences start to like an artiste for his personal work and not his last Bollywood best. Coke Studio certainly pioneers this space,” Sachin said and added that the show is a winner as it is “folk redesigned”.
Having said that, Jigar believes the music churned out by the Pakistani music industry, is purely soul-wrenching. “Pakistani music is divided in two segments largely. One is very raw and folksy. That really works for us. That’s just purely soul wrenching. The other side, though is pretty mediocre, because it apes Bollywood and that’s not exciting at least in our opinion,” he said.
One thing they feel that Indian music artistes need to learn from Pakistan is their appreciation of age-old poetry. “What we can learn from Pakistani artistes is that they appreciate their original poetry, their Sufi concepts, their old poets, that ‘shayrinuma ghazalnuma’ depth is still there ... People still enjoy it at a very layman level. Whereas here in India our ears are corrupt with either West or Bollywood,” Sachin said.
“So if we can bring the best from our folk to the front, we can also be original and organic in our content,” he added. — IANS


Audience reaction biggest reward: Ashutosh Gowariker


Ashutosh Gowariker is humbled by the response that his film Mohenjo Daro got at the 69th edition of the Locarno International Film Festival, and says that the reaction from the audience is the biggest reward for a filmmaker.
Hrithik Roshan-starrer Mohenjo Daro was the closing film of the fest — which was held at the Italian-speaking resort of Lake Maggiore in southern Switzerland. 
“Seeing the reaction of such a massive crowd, all of them so engaged while watching the film, the claps at various points and the long applause at the end; its such a humbling experience which reminds you as a filmmaker that those reactions from the audience are our biggest rewards,” Gowariker said in a statement.
The film brings an epic adventure-romance story on the silver screen. Set in the city of Mohenjo Daro in the era of the Indus Valley civilisation which dates back to 2,600 BC, the movie marked the Bollywood debut of actress Pooja Hegde.
Gowariker’s Oscar-nominated film Lagaan was also screened at the Locarno International Film Festival. He shared that he was excited to be in Locarno with Mohenjo Daro. “When Lagaan was screened at the same Piazza Grande, on a giant screen, one of the biggest in the world, it was an out-of-the-world experience to see an audience of 8000-plus of different nationalities, applaud the film.
“With Mohenjo Daro, it was once again a grand night and looking out at such a massive audience and addressing them is something I still find surreal in spite of having experienced it before,” he added.
Presented by UTV Motion Pictures and Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, and produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur and Sunita Gowariker, the film released worldwide on August 12. — IANS


Nandita Das is a capable director: Nawazuddin


Acclaimed actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who will be playing the title character in Nandita Das’s Manto, has praised her capability as a director. At an interaction, Nawazuddin was asked about his forthcoming projects. He said: “I am doing Manto with Nandita Das. Of course, Nandita is a very capable director.”
The 42-year-old-actor is working for the second time with the actor-director after Firaaq, which marked Nandita’s foray behind the camera. A political thriller, it was lauded by critics.
In Manto, which is based on the life of legendary writer Saadat Hasan Manto — known for his vast work of short stories, novel, radio plays, essays and personal sketches — Nawazuddin is paired with Rasika Dugal.
Expressing his view on Manto the writer, Nawazuddin said: “In my view, Manto is one of the greatest writers in the world of that time when our Hindi film Industry just began. After the Partition, he shifted to Pakistan. The film Manto will depict his life span after shifting to Pakistan to the end.”
That apart, Nawazuddin is all set for his next release Freaky Ali, which revolves around a layman who turns into a professional golfer. The romantic comedy sports drama is directed by Sohail Khan and also features Amy Jackson and Arbaaz Khan in lead roles. It will release on September 9. — IANS