The melody makers

Music directors Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are literally scoring one blockbuster after another.

Our interview with music director Ehsaan Noorani has been postponed for the nth time. "Sorry, but we'll have to do this a bit later," he says quickly, switching off the phone to go behind the thick, soundproof studio doors where, along with music partners Shankar Mahadevan and Loy Mendonsa (together they're called SEL), they're completing the music for director Farhan Akhtar's forthcoming film Don.

Till recently, Karan Johar was a constant fixture even as SEL worked overtime to finish the score of his much-awaited film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. ("We've seen KANK at least 300 times, thanks to the background score," Ehsaan tells us when we finally get down to our interview. His verdict? "You'll cry, it's so beautiful.")

Besides Farhan, Nikhil Advani (they're doing his next film Salaam-e-Ishq), Shaad Ali (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom), Aamir Khan ("we're doing his next production"), Zoya Akhtar and Anil Kapoor are listening to what SEL can contribute to their respective productions.

Is it the post-"Kajra re" effect that has helped them sign some of the most awaited blockbusters in the film industry? Ehsaan laughs, "No, some of our commitments were made prior to the release of Bunty Aur Babli (which featured the track), but yes, the response to "Kajra re" was phenomenal and completely unexpected."

And to think how the song could so easily have gone wrong. For one, it was sung by Alisha Chinai, an unlikely choice especially as she doesn't have too many hit film songs to her credit. Then, it was a departure of sorts from what SEL were really churning out.

The music of Bunty Aur Babli needed to be rustic, very earthy and reflect the spirit and attitude of small-town, middle-class India; a stark contrast to what SEL had belted out for some of the other films.

Somewhere in a majority of SEL scores, edgy, strong, Western melodic hints swelled in the overall feel and sound of compositions. SEL songs could get youngsters in a disco to groove, but to get someone from a small town to swing to guitars, rhythms and riff? Unlikely.

Lyricist Javed Akhtar, who has worked with them on a number of projects including biggies like Kal Ho Na Ho and more recently KANK, thinks otherwise. He says, "Between the three, they seem to cover the entire spectrum of music. In fact, when they pool their repertoire, there's no music that is out of their reach." Could be, especially as a majority of film directors keep repeating them for the music of their films.

Johar feels, "Each track in KANK has its distinct identity and adds up to make it a complete album." Interestingly, after Advani and Johar separated professionally, the one constant that stayed with both directors was the music by SEL. Come to think of it, both Shaad and Farhan came back to them for the score of their next films too.

"They are very easygoing, intelligent individuals but I think they tend to typecast singers. They use me primarily for mushy tracks even though I feel they should use me to sing some fast-paced songs," says singer Sonu Nigam, who received a National Award for the title track of Kal Ho Na Ho. Incidentally, the trio won the National Award for the music in this film too.

As far as the story of "Kajra re" goes, Chinai "was absolutely terrified at the suggestion of singing such a tough song, but gave in because these guys (SEL) persisted".

To say that "Kajra re" was a hit is an understatement. I remember an uncle who came from the US to attend a family wedding recently and commented that "Kajra re" was India's new national anthem. It bagged almost all the major film awards and was voted as the most popular song of 2005 in South Africa.

In innumerable small towns and villages, the song still blares unsophisticatedly from cheap speakers during marriage processions and I really doubt if there's one single person in India who still has to hear "Kajra re".

But, is the party over? After all, their next score for Johar's KANK "" its commercial success notwithstanding "" has come under some heavy criticism.

On brangan.easyjournal.com, critic Baradwaj Rangan says, "The flavour of the music, in other words, is "" to borrow a phrase from the director "" Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...why now have they dumped on us a couple of tunes that sound like something Jatin-Lalit concocted in their sleep..." Music director Shamir Tandon feels, "KANK is sounding like a musical sequel to Kal Ho Na Ho."

Ehsaan reacts, "I want to sit down and have a solid debate with anyone who thinks KANK is similar to Kal Ho Na Ho. They're completely different scores." Akhtar admits: "I think filmmakers should offer them something new now. I personally wish they would compose music for a period film. They will experiment that way."

In their 10th year of making music in the film industry, Ehsaan admits to having committed quite a few professional blunders. "We were twiddling our thumbs after Dil Chahta Hai. We had no work for almost 8-9 months and were forced to sign some very average films without even going through the scripts."

With Kal Ho Na Ho, SEL got their biggest commercial break. Shridhar Subramaniam, MD Sony BMG says, "Kal Ho Na Ho had one of the biggest sales in the Indian music industry and I personally think from bhangra to ballad, they can produce any kind of music."

Besides films, SEL have completed jingles for Reliance Industries, Fair & Lovely, radio channels like City and Mirchi to name just a few. "We are seriously looking at releasing our own album. I just hope we find the time," says Ehsaan.

For music's sake, we hope they do.

MUSICAL MILESTONES

In 1989, Loy and Ehsaan met after Ehsaan returned from Musicians' Institute in Los Angeles.

Together they started composing jingles. They met Shankar during one of their jingle recordings along with late film director Mukul Anand who asked them to compose music for his film Dus.

The film never got made but the title track clicked. Their crucial breaks came with Mission Kashmir, Dil Chahta Hai and Kal Ho Na Ho.