The hit ‘jodi’

Bollywood composer duo Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, aka Vishal-Shekhar, is undoubtedly one of the most popular names in the industry. Over the years, their music has become one of the selling points of the projects they are associated with, including Tiger Zinda Hai, Happy New Year, Hasee Toh Phasee, Balak-Palak, The Dirty Picture, Bachna Ae Haseeno and others, but the two like to remain grounded. 

The duo has also composed music for Yash Raj Film’s upcoming project War, starring Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff and Vaani Kapoor. The Siddharth Anand directorial is releasing on October 2. The first song Ghungroo has already crossed 47 millions views on YouTube and the makers released the second song Jai Jai Shiv Shankar on Saturday. Shekhar says that War’s music has a lot of energy, just like the way the film is. “It’s got everything — emotion, energy, happiness, celebrations,” he says. 

The film stars Bollywood’s two best dancers — Hrithik and Tiger, so one can expect a lot of party/ dance numbers but the composer says that people have to watch the film for that. “I cannot say anything officially. Ghungroo is out and I am pretty excited about that.” 

Delivering hits 
The duo has been creating hit music for two decades now. Ask Shekhar how they deal with the expectation of delivering chartbusters every time and he says, “The thing is that you have to do your work and make music honestly. The audience then decides if the song is a hit or not. As a creator, you have to give your best and leave it to the public.” The composer, singer and actor adds that all this is challenging but also fun. “You need to challenge yourself as you need to do something better or find new space. It’s always good to challenge yourself and that’s what we do all the time. By the grace of god, people have always loved our music,” he says.  

Composing different genres     
This year, the duo has worked on three different styles of films. Student of the Year 2 was a young film, Bharat was a commercial entertainer, and now War. Throwing light on the process, Shekhar says, “The reason the music is different is because every director has his own vision. We work with the director’s vision. Directors like Ali Abbas Zafar, Punit Malhotra and Siddharth Anand have their own space and understanding of music. They know the exact brief of the music and how to extract that from the composer.” It is also the composer’s duty to deliver the music accordingly.  

When the director has a better understanding of music, it makes a huge difference to the album or the music. However, Shekhar says that it’s a collaborative process. “If the music does well, the music director alone should not get credit but every single person associated with the song including the singer, guitarist, arranger, lyricist, choreographer. You hear music, then you see music. That’s the way I see it,” he adds. 

Successful collaborations 
While Shekhar has learnt both Indian and Western classic music, Vishal has his roots in rock music. He is one of the co-founding members of rock/ electronica band Pentagram. Despite their diverse musical tastes and journeys, they have had successful collaborations. 

Shekhar says that he has been fortunate to learn Indian and Western classical music from his father. “There have been many influences in my life. Both Pancham Da (R D Burman) and Michael Jackson have been a big influence. There are many others who have played a big role in crafting the composer I am today,” he says. 

But has their diverse musical backgrounds challenged their music making process? “We cannot divide music. While Vishal listens to both rock and classical music, I have attended a lot of rock concerts and even played at such shows. We have been lucky and privileged to be in both the scenarios. We have learnt a lot from our contemporaries as well,” says Shekhar adding that both of them listen and consume different kinds of music, which makes a difference when they sit together to write a song or music. 

Learning, an ongoing process
Learning is an important aspect to evolve as musicians. Shekhar cannot agree more. “Learning has always been the most important thing. We attend every single concert. There are certain music directors we listen to like Amit Trivedi. I am also a big fan of Vishal Bharadwaj and Ismail Darbar’s music. I have grown up listening to R D Burman, S D Burman and A R Rahman. When you listen to their music, they constantly keep teaching you something,” says Shekhar.   

Debate around reality shows
A few weeks ago, singers Lata Mangeshkar and Rekha Bharadwaj raised their concern about music reality shows and contestants. The iconic singer pointed out that contestants on reality shows are talented, however, they need to have their own style and individuality. Rekha, on the other hand, shared her views on how makers are using the emotions of contestants to sell their shows. She had questioned the unnecessary drama on these shows.

Shekhar, who has judged more than a dozen reality shows, says, “I respect both Lataji and Rekhaji concerns, but after judging more than 15 reality shows, I feel that if my child would have been inclined towards music, I would send them to a reality show. It’s a great platform, it’s like a university for six months. A child gets groomed on how to perform on stage, in front of an audience and celebrities. They get the confidence to speak well, sing different genres that they have not sung before. It is challenging for them. Winning and losing is part of every competition but the experience you get is fantastic.”