No bad blood with makers: Composer Amit Trivedi on opting out of 'Baar Baar Dekho'

The last time we met Amit Trivedi, he had been quite guarded about his responses. This time however, when we meet him at his Andheri studio, the singer-composer is in the mood to talk. Fresh from his Udta Punjab success, but still hurting from the debacle that was Bombay Velvet, Shandaar and Fitoor, he tells us that he’s having a great time composing music for Dear Zindagi. “I have worked with director Gauri Shinde in English Vinglish and she is one of the few directors who has a voice,” he says.

He’s got his hands full with an upcoming live concert at Kurla. But he admits sheepishly that he would rather be composing music in his studio than singing live on stage. “I do enjoy singing but not where I have to do all of it. That’s why there are many other singers with me,” he adds with a smile. Excerpts from our conversation...

While there are some who would rather see you composing, others like your singing. What’s your take?

I have never considered myself a singer. I still don’t know how to sing properly. When I started off with Dev D, I couldn’t afford to get big singers to do scratch songs and I don’t like to exploit new talent for that purpose. I’m not comfortable with that. So I started singing my own scratches. Most of the times, the producers or directors ended up liking my voice. I became a singer accidentally. Now, I know there are people who like my singing and some who don’t. So I’m working on my singing these days. I have been doing my riyaaz, taking care of my voice and doing vocal exercises. I can’t escape it, so I will sing for the people who like it. And for those who don’t, I don’t care.

Your last film Udta Punjab had a lot of profanity. What do you think of profanity in music? Is there a sort of self-censorship that kicks in?

Yes, absolutely. For this film, one of the lyricists Shellee has been part of the Censor Board for five years, so the filter was always on. We had to create music for a character who was messed up and really dark and edgy. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t complete a sentence without spouting some m* b****n gaalis, so that kind of language becomes a part of the music he writes. We could have gone overboard but we knew where to draw the line. We had to find a midway between finding the darkness and going overboard. At the most, we said ‘Chal teri ma da kanga!’ (Your mother’s comb).

Before Udta Punjab happened, three of your films, Bombay Velvet, Shandaar and Fitoor flopped back to back. Did that hurt?

Yes of course, it hurt. It hurt a lot. I’m the kind of guy who believes that a film should work in totality. 'Gulabo' and 'Shaam Shandaar' from Shandaar and 'Pashmina' from Fitoor are still played on the radio, but that doesn’t make me happy because a movie is teamwork. The film should work in totality, which means that your work has reached far and beyond. There were films like Kai Po Che, Queen, and Dev D where I had put in little effort and they did so well. I worked really hard on these three films and they didn’t work. The only thing I can draw from this is that there is no fool-proof method or no formula of making a hit song or a hit movie. And that’s also the best part. That’s why we can only aim toward being genuine and working towards the goal. Hit hua ya nahi, no one knows. That’s how it should be.

But if the music has been liked, isn’t that a sort of a consolation for you?

That just doesn’t work for me. When these films bombed, I was heartbroken, dejected, all sorts of things. The consolation I have got now is in the shape of Udta Punjab which has done a little well. The film, the songs and the performances have been appreciated. Udta Punjab has been a ray of hope after all the prior disasters.

You were doing the music for Baar Baar Dekho and then you opted out. Apparently, you didn’t get along with director Nitya Mehra?

I have to clear this once and for all. Nitya and I are best of friends. We hang out together. I have had a wonderful working relationship with her, right from the day of the narration to the day we amicably parted. I don’t know where these rumours came from. I know a lot of big actors have to go through these kinds of rumours and I got a small taste of it.

What’s the real reason for your opting out?

Nitya had loved everything I was doing. But the producers Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar and Ritesh Sidhwani have a lot riding on them. I was composing music which was in sync with the screenplay, but Karan wanted songs that would be more popular and become hit numbers, which is only fair. So we tried a lot of options, but time was the problem. This film was spilling over to my next project and I had no option, but to quit it. I apologised to Nitya and she was absolutely okay with it.

And all is well between you and the producers?

There is no bad blood between any of us. I’m doing the next Dharma film, Dear Zindagi. Ritesh called me for a movie the other day and Farhan and I recently did a concert together. Things didn’t work out for us in this project but we are working together in others. If Nitya comes to me tomorrow with another project, I would love to work with her.

It’s also said that you were not happy that they wanted a multi-composer album?

There were two songs of mine which had been approved. Then, Ritesh asked me if he could take on other composers. I told him that I like to work on a film alone. That’s how I work and that’s how I will always work. So I asked if it’s okay if I opt out and the producers respected my decision. That’s how mature people deal with situations beyond their control.

Apart from this little controversy, your career has been more or less controversy-free. Some people even call it boring.

You mean, music toh accha hai magar aadmi boring hai? (laughs) I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it that way. Have you heard that song? (sings) Kuchh toh log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna. I say, chhodon bekaar ki baton ko, agle project pe hai jaana…

The terms often used for your music are ‘edgy’, ‘trippy’ and ‘off-beat’. How do you respond to those?

I’m good with all these! As I said, kuch toh log kahenge. And if they are using these terms for my music, I’m happy.