If you have been swinging to the beats of Drona, Dhruv Ghanekar is the man to credit. This Mumbai-based singer-turned-composer makes his solo composer debut here -- earlier, Dhruv made a team with Ashutosh Pathak, and was credited as Ashu-Dhruv (Bombay Boys, White Noise).
Dhruv talks to Nithya Ramani about Drona, and also gives us an unplugged performance!
First of all, tell us about yourself.
As a kid, I used to sing for commercials. I worked with Louis Banks and other music directors then. As I grew older, my voice changed and started cracking. I knew I wanted to do something with music, so I took to the guitar.
Then I went to the US to learn music. But before I left, Ashu and I had already scored the music for the Pooja Bhatt-starrer, Tamanna, and were halfway through Bombay Boys in 1997. After commercials, one thing led to another, and now, here I am.
When did you team up with Ashu?
I met Ashu on a television talk show. We were part of different rock bands, and they were interviewing young musicians. I was with a band called Chakravyu. Ashu had a studio in his backyard, so he suggested that we record there. That's how we hit it off. But then our bands split, and later, he suggested that I play guitar and help him out.
As time went, my contribution increased from just guitar parts to co-composing. Then, Tamanna happened, and we have been working together since then.
Ashu and I founded a company called Blue Frog, which showcased music from all over the world. We had a lot of advertising work. About three-four years ago, we decided to work separately so that we could do even more work. It gets easier then. So I am doing Drona now, and he is composing for Chandni Chowk to China.
How did Drona happen?
I had composed the title track for Nach Baliye. He must have noticed me then. He asked me to compose the title track for one of his television projects for his production company. I did various versions, but he made me do them repeatedly. I was wondering why, and that's when he told me that he was checking to see if I could work on his film. I thought he was just saying it but later, he actually offered Drona to me.
The great thing about Goldie is that he will never tell you what to do. He will just point you in the right direction.
For example, the first song we recorded was the birthday song, Khushi, with Shaan. Goldie wanted a happy birthday song, that's all he said. I thought it would be interesting to include an orchestra. We just threw ideas at each other; every song has its own visual appeal.
Video: Hitesh Harisinghani
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