A s the award season has begun, one name that is going to feature in most nominations is Shekhar Ravjiani. Shekhar had an eventful 2016 as he not only composed music of two of the biggest hits of last year – Sultan and Befikre with Vishal Dadlani but also made his acting debut with Neerja. In Delhi, to talk about his latest reality show Dil Hai Hindustani on Star Plus , Shekhar turns up in his bearded look. “Beards have become a rage now but I have been sporting one since 2007. You can call me a trendsetter,” quips Shekhar as we settle for a late breakfast interview at The One restaurant in New Delhi’s Le Meridien. His makeup man has missed the morning flight but Shekhar Ravjiani doesn’t mind posing for the camera. Sipping orange juice as he needs lot of vitamin C on a long day, Shekhar says, “2016 was one of the most special years of my life. I have been getting acting offers for a long time but I was waiting for the right role. I know the success ratio of musicians who have made a foray into acting has been poor. Except for Kishore Kumar, who was an all rounder, there have not been any smooth transitions. I didn’t want to be part of the jinx. So I waited for the right project.” His performance has been noted as he has not only won a nomination for the best debutant of the year at a recent film award function but also performed for London Symphony Musical Theatre last year. “I became the first Indian actor to do holographic theatre. The casting team saw my performance in Neerja and called me to do Symphony to a Lost Generation. It was about an Indian soldier who fought for the British during the World War I. The challenge was to perform in front of a green screen with no co-actors as in holographic theatre they create a 3D image which can be watched without glasses.”
Meanwhile, time has passed by and the staff has placed lunch buffet. Shekhar is game. Trying dal makhani with corn and broccoli pulao, Shekhar says he is not fussy about food. “I come form Kutch region of Gujarat where the food doesn’t have the sweet flavour as the rest of the Gujarat is famous for. I love my traditional kadhi, khichdi, bhindi and gwar ki sabzi. When I go out I like Chinese and also love the Mughlai food that Delhi offers.” Like in music, Shekhar and Vishal are in tune. “We don’t hold back. When I am working and there is good food in front of me it kind of makes me sad for a moment because I know that I might go to sleep but still I usually go ahead because one should compose in a happy state of mind,” laughs Shekhar.
Shekhar says he is always open to new challenges and that 24 hours are not enough for him. “Acting is nothing but a form of expression. And having done nine reality shows, I am comfortable with the camera and all kinds of emotions,” he chuckles. Denying his thick moustache is for a new role, Shekhar, however, admits he is open to exploring acting as an option. Having said that, he is challenging himself in his core competence as well. He has recently recorded his first Tamil song. He plays it for us and shows how he had to twist his tongue to get it right. There is more. “Last year, I did a Jagjit Singh Show in Singapore. There the crowd had seen me jumping to Chhammak Chhallo and Disco Deewane. So when they saw me singing ghazal in traditional format they were bit surprised but I could not let Jagjit uncle down. He was a huge inspiration during childhood when he used to come home to meet my father who is a music enthusiast and plays accordion really well. When most young composers cite Michael Jackson or R. D. Burman as inspirations, I always maintained that while I listened to all, the biggest influence was Jagjit Singh. I attended almost all his concerts. In Singapore, I performed with Jagjit uncle’s team which included senior musicians like Deepak Pandit and Abhinav Upadhyay.”
In Sultan and Befikre, Vishal Shekhar straddled two different worlds and for a change their music laid as much emphasis on lyrics as the youthful riffs they are popular for. “Film music is about team work where director, producer, composer and lyricist are equal players. For Sultan, director Ali Abbas Zafar gave us a long narration underlining the personality of Sultan. So we based it on traditional raginis of Haryana but ensured that it retains its pan Indian appeal. It reflected in ‘Jug Ghoomeya’ and ‘Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai’, and ‘Bulleya’ is not your usual qawwali. For Befikre , we created tunes that remind you of Shankar Jaikishan kind of arrangement. Jaideep Sahani who has written songs after a long time played an important role in creating a gem like ‘Labon Ka Karobaar’. We are happy it didn’t get lost among strong dance numbers in the album.”
Shekhar reveals the line ‘Nashe Si Chhad Gayi, Patang Si Lad Gayi’ came from producer Aditya Chopra. “We have been lucky to have creative producers like Karan Johar and Adi who have strong music sense. Originally, it was a usual hardcore dance song but we turned it into a romantic mid tempo dance song, which is rare these days.” It is mostly tunes first, but Shekhar loves to pick new words from lyricists and then weave the melody around them. “Like at the time of Hasee Toh Phasee , I asked Amitabh (Bhattacharya) for a romantic word and he came up with two: betahasha and zahe naseeb. I weaved a tune around both.”
Talking about what the future holds in 2017 where Vishal Shekhar would compose for two sequels Student Of The Year-2 and Tiger Zinda Hai , Shekhar says music is changing every week. “There was a time when a trend would last 4-5 years. These days people are consuming 10 kinds of music at the same time. These days we get happy when we find that there is a situation for a sad song in the film. My grandfather used to say public would never say what it wants. It is the job of the composer to give them quality. Perhaps, that’s why we still listen to old songs and popular numbers are being to used to promote new films,” says Shekhar in reference to Raee s and Kaabil using remix version of old dance hits – “Laila Main Laila” and “Saara Zamana” as highlights.
In the same way, he says, because of reality shows, the pool of playback singers has swelled. “Earlier, it was like four-five singers who would last for about a decade and then there would be fresh lot. Now I can use Arijit Singh and if the situation demands I can call Kumar Sanu or Udit Narayan as well. It doesn’t mean one is better than the other.
Recording scratch versions help in making the right choice and I don’t think any singer minds if his voice is not ultimately used.”
The technology, Shekhar admits, has ensured that most singer are auto-tuned. “It has become a habit of sorts. It is when a singer performs live that people realise how tuneful he or she is. This generation lays more emphasis on texture than sur . But it doesn’t mean that young singers are not trained or not in tune. Arijit Singh is a tayyar singer. Benny Dayal is the modern voice of the youth – a combination of tune and texture. His personality reflects in his voice. And Papon is our modern day Manna Dey.”
Even before I analyse his choices, the conversation shifts to cooking. Trying his hand at cooking these days, Shekhar says he has realised that after cooking you don’t judge taste. “You don’t have much energy left to nitpick. That’s why I feel we should salute the women in our lives who have been feeding us all these years.”
He also doffs his hat to the man who makes masala maggi on the sets. “I have tried all permutations and combinations but have not been able to achieve the kind of taste that he generates.” Is it healthy, I try to interject. “Who cares about health, when it is tasty,” Shekhar shuts me up.
