The Sound of Sajid Wajid

[vc_row][vc_column][td_block_text_with_title custom_title=”MUSIC” separator=””]Jyothi Venkatesh meets Wajid of the Sajid-Wajid music director duo for this exclusive and intimate interview where he dwells at length about the journey with his brother Sajid from 1996 when they made their debut with Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya.

 

There is no stopping Wajid, the younger brother of Sajid, of the Sajid-Wajid music director duo when he is in a good mood. Sipping endless cups of steaming tea, Wajid said, “Sajid Khan is my elder brother. I had actually come to be a music director, though I like singing too. Though my priority was singing, I couldn’t get opportunities to sing because earlier music directors never used to sing, except perhaps S.D. Burman and Rahul Burman. I sing professionally. Sajidbhai does not. Though I like to sing ghazals, given a choice, I’d actually prefer to sing my own compositions as a singer.

“Our father Ustad Sharafat Ali Khan used to tell us always that if we want to crack music as composers, we should know how to sing. He was right, because if you cannot sing a song properly, how can you expect your singer to sing it well? Not many are aware of the fact that both Sajidbhai and I belong to a musical gharana, known as Kirana Gharana, from generation to generation. Our father is a renowned table player. In fact, we got our rhythm from him in our veins. Our Nana Padmashri Ustad Faiyaz Ahmed Khan had bagged the Padmashri while his brother and our uncle Niaz Ahmed Khan was conferred with the Tansen award.

“I am not a Himesh Reshammiya. If I wanted, I could have even sung the hit number Tere Mast Mast Do Nain in Dabangg but I felt as a music director that Rahat Fateh Ali Khansaab was several notches better.”

“Singers like Shaan and Sonu Nigam have complimented me after listening to my songs. I have sung duets with Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal in films like Wanted (Tujhe Pyar Karte Hai ) Main Aur Mrs Khanna ( Pyar Ka Vaada Hum Kabhi Tod De). I also have to my credit hit numbers as a singer, like Jalwa, the theme line in Do You Want a Partner, Yahan Bhi Hoga Wahaan Bhi Hoga and Love Me Love Me, Bang Bang Zamana Bole and Dil Bina Tere Bina (Kal Kisine Dekha).

“Whether it was Nadeem- Shrawan or Jatin- Lalit or Anand- Milind, none of the music director duo used to sing earlier. In fact, Anu Malik was never known as a singer and was known to sing just occasionally. I am not a Himesh Reshammiya. If I wanted, I could have even sung the hit number Tere Mast Mast Do Nain in Dabangg but I felt as a music director that Rahat Fateh Ali Khansaab was several notches better. I have always believed in asking the right singer to sing the right song or else the public also will get bored”

Wajid continues. “A music director should know which singer to use and when. I asked Sukhwinder Singh to sing Hud Hud Dabbang and Sonu Nigam to sing Sachi Sachi, though I myself sang the number Humka Peeni Peeni Hai in Dabangg. It is always the ‘projection’ which decides which song is a hit. We feel that if you have Salmanbhai and Malaika in an item number, baat alag hi ho jaati hain. We made our debut in 1996 with Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya after coming up with a basic album called Deewana even before that, with Sonu Nigam as the singer. Today, even after 21 years, it is still a rock steady album as far as the music charts are concerned. God has been very kind to both of us. We have till date never even once done a ‘cut and paste job’ as a music director duo. The biggest proof is that our names do not figure in the list of the names of the music directors which lists plagiarized or copied songs”.

“If Shah Rukh Khan prefers to work with Shankar Ehsan Loy or Salim Suleman or Vishal Shekhar, it is his prerogative. Just because we are working with Salman Khan continuously, we will not be unprofessional enough to say we will not work with Shah Rukh Khan, as music directors.”

“We would not claim the credit for the hit number Munni Badnaam Huyi, because Arbazbhai had liked the song even before we came on board in Dabangg as music directors. Lalit Pandit got the credit. Why should we take the credit, when it is not ours? It is not that we didn’t churn out super hit songs earlier. The song worked for the film. That is important for us, since we were also part of the film. It is immaterial whether we composed the number or Lalit! Munni Badnaam Huyi was just a part of Dabbangg, whereas Sheela died even before it became a hit and Tees Maar Khan was only Sheela Ki Jawani whereas Dabangg was Dabangg. Since Munni Badnaam Huyi was a desi item, it appealed more to the masses unlike Sheela Ki Jawani which was a good upbeat song.

“We would not deny that it is only because of Salman Khan that we got an opportunity to work in different projects and prove our prowess as a music director duo. How can we forget the fact that it was Salman, who believed in our music when no one else had trust in our capability? Your ‘thinking’ itself becomes big when you work with an actor like Salman Khan, because he is a huge superstar. When you compose a song like Mera Hi Jalwa, you just cannot think of any other hero today gyrating to the number of the big screen with effortless ease. Can you?

“There was a time in the past when there were musical trios like Naseer Hussain-Panchamda and Shammi Kapoor. Nowadays, you can single out just one musical jodi- Salman Khan, Sajibhai and I, since in a row six films for which we composed for Salman – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Veer, Wanted, Dabangg, Partner and Kick became big hits. You just cannot force any producer or director to work with you. We did not compose music for Salman’s films like Yuvraj and London Dreams, as Subhash Ghai and Vipul Shah did not want to work with us and were committed to other music directors. Sadly though, the music in both the films flopped. Though Salman Khan is one actor with whom we would love to work again and again, it does not mean that we do not want to work with any other star. We would love to work with every star in Bollywood. You can work with any one, if you are good as a technician and know your job well. We worked with Ajay Devgn in Priyadarshan’s Tezz. If Shah Rukh Khan prefers to work with Shankar -Ehsan- Loy or Salim Suleman or Vishal Shekhar, it is his prerogative. Just because we are working with Salman Khan continuously, we will not be unprofessional enough to say that we will not work with Shah Rukh Khan, as music directors. Not just Shah Rukh Khan, we would also love to work with Aamir Khan too, because we like the kind of sensibility that he has.

“There is much more to Sajid -Wajid as music directors. Dabangg and Veer belonged to two different genres. Veer was an epic story of a warrior which required a different kind of sound whereas Dabangg had the back ground of U.P and needed classical music and we composed rhythm oriented folk songs. We are against copying any hit song, though there are many music directors who have no qualms to palm off a hit song from other languages.Both Boney Kapoor and Prabhudevaa wanted us to lift Dola Dola from the Telugu original version of Wanted but they agreed when we refused and instead we composed the number Love Me Love Me.
“Can you make a Salman Khan sing an aalaap- pradhan number like Saanj Savere on the screen in today’s times? If it does well, it will work any time! Salman has been working for the last 28 years and has his own way of choosing things. I’d say that his taste is fantastic and brilliant. Salman is very musical. He sang the number Mitti Ki Seene Se in Wanted. Why should we expect a star to sing any simple song when he can sing a tougher song? How many singers have clicked till date as a hero in Bollywood except for Kishore Kumar? Yahan public sirf chamatkar ko namaskar karte hain!

“If you are good as far as your job is concerned, no one can put you down. If I feel that I should act, just because my songs as a music director or singer are hits, I’d be just a fool. Star ban-na ooparwle ki den hain. A star is only born. He cannot be made. We feel that we are stars in our own right since God has been very kind to us. Aaj Kal gaayki bhi aisi nahin hain like in the past. You do not get to hear Udit Narayan who peaked at 1990 and stopped in 2005 or for that matter Kumar Sanu. Sonu Nigam has survived the test of time because he keeps on changing his style as a singer. Hinmesh Reshammiya ruled for almost two years. It was not a joke at all. Then the flavor changed, because he did so much too much and it was unfair and what I’d call zyaadthi. Nowadays even Shaan is not singing on a regular basis, because singers like Rahat Fateh Ali Khansaab, Arijit Singh, Atif and Mohit Chauhan rule the rostrum.After giving hit after hit for two years, believe it or perish, we did not have work at all. For two years from 2001 to 2003, only two films clicked in a big way-Lagaan and Gadar. We were hurt when people told us that we should pack up but we believed in criticism and bucked up with a never- say- die spirit. I concede that though sometimes even shit sells, your main priority should always be your work. You struggle to reach a place but when you stop doing what you actually craved to do; your music will fail to appeal to the listeners. People will always like you, whether your film is a hit or a flop but if you give bad music by not concentrating on your work, not only will the film flop but also the public will write you off. After a two year gap, it was for Salmanbhai that we recorded Lagan Laagi for Tere Naam. It proved to be the turning point for us.Salmanbhai was shocked as hell when we quietly told him that we had not seen a recording studio for almost two years till we recorded that number.

“I would not deny that Anu Malik is talented but then sometimes destiny plays a very vital role in your life. When we bagged Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, we gave three songs in just one sitting, when Anu could not record. It was Jalees Sherwani’s mukhda that fetched us the film, thanks to Salmanbhai’s recommendation. We cannot forget what Salmanbhai has done for us. It is a big thing that he respects us and loves us for our work and has given his films for us, when others did not trust us. We would say that he and the film also benefitted because we know our job well. We love Salmanbhai and are like his younger brothers and will love him whether he gives us work or not. Though Preetam and Devi Sri Prasad did Ready and Himesh Reshammiya did Bodyguard, we hope to do his Partner 2. In one way it is good, because you can concentrate more on two films than five films at a time.

“Today it is very difficult to get a hit song. Earlier everything was new and people were ‘experimenting’ but listeners had no choice. Today people can listen to music of any country unlike then, on the net. If yet you can give a hit, it speaks volumes. Earlier there were very few music directors though today there are dime a dozen music directors in Bollywood. The basic difference then and now is that we had music directors earlier like Naushad, Madan Mohan, O.P. Nayyar, Sachin Deb Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, Ravi, Jaidev, R.D.Burman, Shankar Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal, C. Ramchandra and Roshan. The hero was there in the composer then. Today heroism is dead in songs. We have been able to succeed as music directors because we bring out the hero in our songs.

“Lyrics depends on the kind of films that you are making. At a time when the title of a film is mostly in English, we are happy that not a single song in Dabangg had a word in English but in either Urdu or Punjabi, as that was the requirement. We used Taakte Rehte Hai Tumhe Saanj Savere. Why do we forget that we make music for a film and not for a music album? We have also worked with Faiz Ahmed and Shabbeer Ahmed. We keep mukhdas ready and in fact have a bank of 400 songs. I had a Samsung recorder which I broke because I was fed up of going back to the sittings with the same melodies.I realized that to go back to the same melodies was pointless. If you are capable of erasing your own songs and create new ones, it is good. The excitement to make your product even better should not ‘die’ in you if you want to keep on re-inventing yourself in your craft.Sajid and I do not interfere with each other as music directors. Basically I compose and he arranges. Sometimes he comes up with a hook line and I complete it. We believe that the shelf life of a song is more than that of a film itself. Today TV has become very huge. Work is work, whether it is TV or films or for that matter jingles for ads. A reality show like Sa Re Ga Ma gave us a face, though people were aware of our names. We were not new names but thanks to the show which was a brand building exercise, we are known universally now and people can match our names with our faces when they hear our names. We would like to be a part of every season of the show. We had composed for both Dus Ka Dum for which I had also sung and Bigg Boss Season 4. The only brief that Sajidbhai and I gave ourselves was that when we set out to cater to Salman Khan, we should keep in mind that, like Salman Khan himself, the song also should be huge and larger than life”, concluded Wajid.[/td_block_text_with_title][/vc_column][/vc_row]