C hammak Challo is on top of the charts and if Ra.One hits the bull's eye, it will remain in its numero uno position for a few more weeks. While the world is appreciating Vishal-Shekar and Akon, music producer Abhijit Vaghani remains an unsung hero. Like most behind the scenes professionals, music producers are rarely recognised.
Abhijit Vaghani has to his credit the background score of Ra.One , the Punjabi remix of Chammak Challo , production of It's Criminal and Jiya Mora tracks in the album. “The Punjabi track of Chammak Challo was done on one night. The album release was due and we had to deliver overnight. Since Akon was with us, we got things moving,” says Abhijit. Jiya Mora , he says, is a background number in the film and since Shah Rukh took a liking to it, the track made its way to the album. “He liked Jiya Mora and asked us to develop it into a full-fledged track.”
Ask Abhijit about the difference between producers and composers and he says, “Producers are music arrangers or programmers. In Hollywood and international music, one hears a lot about the producers unlike in India. I'd say even Black Eyed Peas can be called producers, since they not only perform as a band but produce a lot of music for others.”
In simple terms, a composer composes tunes and writes down the notes for others to execute. A producer takes it further, by either recording or performing it himself or with his team. A producer often doubles up as a sound engineer. “We, producers, also have the task of introducing new sounds in the music. Earlier, people would ask me if a music producer is someone who pumps money into an album like a film producer does. Thankfully today the industry is more aware,” says Abhijit.
He has been in the field of music for 12 years and worked his way up from ad jingles to independent remix albums to films. Recently, he co-composed for Vaibhavi Merchant's musical Taj Express and Buddah Hoga Tera Baap .
Next, Abhijit is working with Salim-Sulaiman on the background score of Yash Raj productions Ladies Vs. Rickie Behl . “I will also be producing two tracks and remixing two tracks for the film. Sadly, a lot of work that goes into background score goes unnoticed because we don't have the concept of OST tracks like Hollywood films,” he says.
