Nikhil Kamath was all smiles and well before time when we met him at an Andheri café for a Bollywood Hungama exclusive interview. And these 2 factors are his USPs besides, of course, his music. With Vinay Tiwari, he formed the hit musical Jodi of Nikhil-Vinay. But even individually, he has done a great amount of work. We met him on the day Tum Bin (2001) had a re-release and he spoke about the film, his journey and a lot more.
How do you feel about the re-release of Tum Bin?
I am very happy. When it was released in 2001, it faced a lot of competition from Gadar and Lagaan. Aks was released on the same day. And I feel the Gen Z generation will love it. Today, I saw the film as an audience for the first time. I realized that the screenplay, story, performances, cinematography, etc. were spectacular. It’s commendable how Anubhav Sinha created the mood. The performances of Priyanshu Chatterjee, Sandali Sinha, Raqesh Bapat and Himanshu Malik were all natural. I even realized that even the editing was fantastic. There was no comic relief or bakwaas scenes added in the film for the heck of it. The dialogues are also mouthed realistically. Nowadays, in some of the films, you get the feeling that the actors are hamming.
Himanshu Malik exclusively told us that he used to be recognized in the remotest corners of the earth, thanks to Tum Bin. Did your life also change after this film?
Yes. I once went to Australia as a chief guest for an event. When the announcer mentioned that I had composed ‘Koi Fariyaad’, 4000-5000 people turned around to look at me. Then they suddenly gave me a standing ovation (smiles). Many of them came to greet me and a few of them even touched my feet! ‘Koi Fariyaad’ has touched people deeply. It’s a 9-minute song and yet, you don’t realize it’s so long. Anubhav Sinha has used it very effectively, as a part of the script.
I met Vinay today and we were discussing that we had no idea that the music of Tum Bin would become such a big hit. We worked hard on it like we did on every other project. I never do half-hearted work. Whatever I do, I do it with passion. If I get too many projects, I decline or I ask the makers to wait for a couple of months. But I don’t take up too much work; or else, I’ll spoil all my projects.
Was ‘Koi Fariyaad’ your first-ever collaboration with Jagjit Singh?
Yes. We never even worked with him on a private song. And it was very easy to convince him. I used to play cricket with his son Vivek in Breach Candy as a child. I used to see Jagjit sir frequently then. When we felt his voice fit the song, I decided to use his son’s reference to contact him. I cycled to his house as he used to stay nearby! I told him, ‘Main Vivek ke saath khelta tha’. He immediately got interested and also he had heard about us. I told him that the song was made for him and that we were recording it on the e-minus scale. I also gave him the basic melody of the track. Then he came to the T-Series office where I, Vinay, Bhushan Kumar and arranger Suresh Lalwani had a sitting.
I have always been fascinated by the lyrics of the title song. It starts with ‘Tum Bin Jeeya Jaaye Jaise’ followed by ‘Kaise Jeeya Jaaye Tum Bin’. The words are the same but are inter-changed…
It’s all due to the importance of team work. This is how lyricist Faaiz Anwar bhai said that these words are final. We agreed with him. After all, he’s a great poet who has written songs like ‘Iss Tarah Aashiqui Ka’. In fact, there was no interference in the music process at all. Bhushan trusted us completely. Just imagine, at that time, he was so young (22-23 years old) and yet, he chose a tune like ‘Koi Fariyaad’. Can you imagine his music sense at that point? There were times when we used to make him hear the songs in his car. We played ‘Koi Fariyaad’ for him also in his vehicle and explained to him that the situation in the film is grim. He immediately related it to the script.
On one hand, there are songs and on the other hand, there are songs with stories behind them. So, when you hear such songs individually, they sound good and when you see them in the context of the story, it’s killer! ‘Koi Fariyaad’ was one of the experiments that succeeded.
When did you realize Tum Bin songs have become a rage?
Within a few weeks of the songs coming on television. Also, we knew when Bhushan called us to say, ‘The music of Tum Bin is a big hit’!
The entire journey of the film was fun-loving and motivating. No one was pulling anyone down. Today, somebody or the other would interfere or try to act smart.
The tune was something we never heard before…
It was programmed and had Western beats. Moreover, Tum Bin was a rare film to be shot in Calgary in Panavision, which James Bond films used to have. The difference between a normal print and a Panavision print was Rs. 10 lakhs. It means that Bhushan had to put Rs. 10 lakhs extra. Yet, he went for it as he was very passionate. I told Jagjit ji that ‘Tum Bin is a very futuristic movie. Hence, I can’t keep a very Indian sound’. He understood my point. We had a workshop before the film went on floors where Anubhav told us about Panavision. Hence, the orchestration was done according to the scenes in many of the songs.
How much time did it take for you and Vinay to compose the songs for the film?
It didn’t take more than 2 weeks (smiles). When Anubhav was narrating the script, whatever we had in our mind, we used to play those compositions. Whatever he liked, he took. Only ‘Koi Fariyaad’ took some time.
You and Vinay Tiwari began your career with Pyar Bhara Dil (1991), made by Chandra Barot of Don (1978) fame. How did you bag the film of such a popular director?
I met him through a producer known as Anis Ahmed. He knew Chandra Barot and he told them about us and that we are working on the private songs of T-Series. We met him and when we played the song ‘Banke Kitaab Teri’, he immediately signed us! T-Series also liked the songs and they sponsored the music.
You and Vinay composed for 3 films of Shah Rukh Khan – Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke (2004), English Babu Desi Mem (1996) and Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam (2002). Did you get a chance to interact with him?
We interacted with him. Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke was earlier called Jaadu. It was directed by Pawan Kaul. We went to meet him on the sets of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994) with Pawan Kaul ji. He introduced us to Shah Rukh. Pawan ji used to keep saying, ‘This person is going to be a superstar in Bollywood’! He had that gut feeling right from the first day. His prophecy came true.
Unfortunately, Jaadu got stalled due to some problems. It was released a decade later but a different story was added by B N Tiwari. Hence, it became a khichdi of sorts. If it had been released in the early 90s, it would have been a blockbuster.
Did you meet him again?
Yes, 2-3 times. He was a very nice person. In fact, once he called Vinay and me on the sets of Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) at Mehboob Studio. He was shooting for the song ‘Koi Ladki Hai’ with Madhuri Dixit. He sat in a room in the studio and a stand-up comedian, Madhav Moghe, had come to meet him. He used to tell us, ‘Meena Kumari, Dilip Kumar, etc, used to do their makeup in this very room’! Then, Shah Rukh came and listed the films he was working on at that time. He promised to work with us if any opportunity arose.
And you and Vinay did work with him in Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam…
Yes, but that was because of T-Series. He used to not interfere in the music process. He was very professional. He is a director’s actor and depends on the director.
The title song of Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam was a hit…
Indeed, and even the songs of English Babu Desi Mem were hits, especially ‘O Bijuria Sun’ and ‘Deewana Main Deewana’.
What is going wrong with music in today’s times?
The person, who has to decide the music, doesn’t know music. They are CEOs with MBA degrees. No offence to them but music is not selected by MBAs. It has to be selected by a person who has an understanding of the song. You need to get a director, who knows the pulse of the audience.
If you have hired me, then you better trust me. Bhushan, for example, trusted us when we suggested ‘Koi Fariyad’. He didn’t say ‘It’s very slow. People might get bored and go to sleep’. Today, it’s a cult song. So, you need to have that gut feeling. Nobody has that, except for T-Series. Bhushan Kumar, Raj Chanana, etc. all have musical sense.
While working on devotional songs, I go with a baby keyboard. Then, I sing the song aloud. And they choose the song. Either you like it or you don’t. But the new breeds of corporates don’t understand anything. They keep on asking for changes. Earlier, live recordings used to happen. Now, they know that they can keep on interfering as the process is digital. They keep changing the beats. The end product is nothing but confusion.
Do you sometimes feel that you have not got your due? After all, you and Vinay did such great songs together and yet, neither of you are counted in the league of other music directors of the 90s…
Yes, we feel the same but today, Vinay and I also believe that we are in a good space. If you do something and you are not happy about it, it’ll kill you. You’ll get all sorts of diseases. If you take up fees for a project and then you are not happy with the makers, you might end up fighting. It’ll create a tremendous amount of stress. You’ll get burnt out and suffer from ailments. Your family will suffer since you will suffer. Today, I am happy and look younger as we didn’t do projects that didn’t seem satisfying to us. We didn’t have a bad name or reports were never spread that we were thrown out of a film. Hence, there’s less popularity but there’s also happiness. We enjoyed the journey. We believe a lot in quality work and giving time to our producers.
Can you and Vinay Tiwari collaborate once again?
We are trying to do something. There’s no enmity. He wanted to move on his own to London to seek newer pastures. He started a digital company in the UK. We saw Tum Bin together today (the composer was sweet enough to share the picture of them together which they clicked when they went to see the film).
The post Tum Bin re-release EXCLUSIVE: When 5000 people gave Nikhil Kamath a STANDING ovation for ‘Koi Fariyaad’; music composer also reveals Shah Rukh Khan’s STARDOM was foretold in early 90s by Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke director appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
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