Remix fever: Why are people murdering our most favourite memories?

Madhuri Dixit’s fans are still not over the gory murder of the original Ek Do Teen, but looks like Salman Khan fans will be up in arms soon, too! Why you ask? Simply because the remixes have not left anything sacred. Least of all, anthems we grew up loving, writes Shubarna Mukerji Shu

They did it with ‘Ek Do Teen…’, they are now threatening to do it with ‘Oh, Oh Jaane Jaana…’ from the 1998 Salman-Khan hit Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya and if that was not enough they want to ruin ‘Ghar se nikalte hi….’ AND Aamir Khan-Juhi Chawla number, ‘Gazab ka hai din….’

Why are these people murdering our most favourite memories? Well, here is the reason in a nutshell: The most fundamental idea of making your product a success is to ensure that it is appealing to the masses. Do not seclude anyone, if you can make provisions for them. In other words, when you have, say, a Tiger Shroff film, you could be certain you will have at least the five-year-olds to 15-year-olds making a bee-line to the theatres, but what will get the adults in? How about a dash of nostalgia?

Take a hit song from 80s or 90s, and then turn it around on its head – BANG! You got your dose of nostalgia, coupled with a hit number already in your film, and you will make some not-so-measly bucks on it through ringtones, caller-tunes and what-not, it is a successful enterprise, why stop it now? Perhaps, because the people are ready to pick up arms and some serious ammunition to curtail you from ruining their favourite superstars’ next anthem.

“When they ruined Ek Do Teen, it felt as if they will stop at that but every month there is a new remix coming. We have heard, that Sooraj Pancholi’s next will have him dancing on Salman Khan’s ‘Oh…Oh Jaane Jaana….’, the song is like a Salman Khan fan-copyright, though they have the original singer Kamaal Khan who will be working on it, and rumours suggest, Salman will also make a cameo in the number, it cannot be the same. You cannot take Salman Khan and all that’s sacred about the song, and put it on someone else. It is wrong!” – the media is screaming, but who is listening?

“It is convenient work for lazy people who won’t work towards making new classics for the young. How will we get new blood into the music world, if we keep remixing old classics? It is not like they are enhancing the song,” Singer Shilpa Rao was heard complaining.

She isn’t the only one, Asha Parekh, too, cannot seem to find her patience with the remixes either, “I cannot even sing along with these songs. My idea of good music was to be able to sing along and making memories from those words. Now even if they remix my favourite numbers, it is difficult to sing along because they make the background music so blaring, it’s so unfortunate,” quipped yesteryear actress Asha Parekh, who was best known for being a dancing queen in her heydays. For someone who loved music, to cringe at the thought of it, spells DOOM!

Composer Amit Trivedi, too insists, that the popular classics have already had their turn around the marquee, they needn’t be reproduced, “If there is risk in making new music, its ok! Go for it and have faith in your listeners!”

According to lyricist Sameer, music is one of those entities in films which work as per demand, “most of the lyricists don’t write what they would have preferred but what the director demands. And now with remixes, they don’t need us at all, they are spinning it all around as they please!”

So far, the social media is pushing the blame squarely on Bhushan Kumar’s marketing genius! “T-series have the rights for most of these popular songs from the 90s, with them getting into production, remixes are easy money. But we are glad that the people are not enjoying them anymore, so there is hope that it the fad will burn out soon enough,” quipped a Bollywood influencer who doesn’t want to be named.

While singer Shilpa Rao has been more than vocal about her displeasure around remix songs, Sunidhi Chauhan keeps an open mind, “Vishal and Shekhar did an excellent job with ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno…’ so it is not always that remixes have to go south, but I really didn’t think they needed to remix ‘Dheere Dheere Se Meri Zindagi Mein Aana….’ There are some songs that shouldn’t be touched, but not everyone don’t think the same way.”

It was social media fave, Raja Sen who seems to have the perfect solution, let them have the series of bad remixes, “they will burn out!” God willing, we say! God willing, justice will prevail.