Tell us about the music in Drona.
It is very difficult to compose music for a film like Drona because it is not a musical. It's an action adventure, fantasy film. Goldie had told me that he hadn't come to me for the songs; that was a bonus. He came to me for the background score. Earlier, we were going to have two-three songs. Later, it became five songs.
It is hard to describe Drona's music. For example, the Oppcha is an item number. Goldie wanted a club song. He wanted an elemental background, so it has a lot of rust and metal.
My favourite song is Bandagi. I sang the title song in Drona.
How many options did you give Goldie to choose from?
It depends on the song. I'm very clear about certain songs, like Bandagi. I took only three hours to make it. But there are songs that you really need to work hard on, and it may take days.
You give options to the director, if he is not happy with the first one. That rarely happens. If I'm not happy with a song, I would not present it to the director. A lot of ideas just lie in my studio because they are not worth it.
How do you face a song rejection?
If you are confident about your work, and if you have a good rapport with your director, then you could argue with him. Sometimes, I sing the song but that may not sound the same as the final. As far as Drona is concerned, I didn't have a problem with any songs, except for Oopcha. I had to give some options here.
Most music directors are accused of plagiarism. Why do you think they pick up tunes from other musicians?
I think it's plain laziness as well as the volume of work. One music director works on eight to 10 projects at a time. So maybe he runs out of ideas.
How difficult is it to work alone?
It is obviously different when you are collaborating with another musician. When I was collaborating, I would take a backseat. I would never sit on the keyboard and programming. I would be ideating and feeding off ideas.
Now that I am doing it myself, it is more challenging, and takes longer. But there is a sense of focus and I feel stronger as a musician.
Also Read : Showcasing Drona
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