India likes butter chicken music: Sachin Gupta

Bollywood has opened up to new talent in the last few years and many young independent artistes have made their foray into Bollywood in the recent past. Composer Sachin Gupta is the newest addition to the list.

Having worked on Atif Aslam’s albums like Doorie in the past, he obviously chose the singer to sing most of the songs in his forthcoming film as music director. But till two years ago, he was the music composer for the Hindi rock band Mrigya. He quit soon though and gave mainstream music a shot.

He makes no bones about the fact that he chose to quit his rock band because he had bigger ambitions. “Bollywood is a personal call. But it also rules the country and you cannot afford to ignore it if you really want to make it big. Running a rock band is good for personal satisfaction but if you have an option of using such an extensive medium, then why not?”

He has coined a unique term for Indian music in films. “India mein butter chicken music sabse jyada chalta hai (Butter chicken music works best in India),” he says, hinting that it’s the masala and the tadka that works with the masses.

“But this is the kind of music which has a strong touch of melody in it. Most good songs which become popular in India are melodious and influenced by the ragaas. For example, the song My Heart Will Go On from the movie Titanic has a particular melody to it which made it very popular here, even among the non-English speaking crowd,” says Gupta.

He believes the same melody has worked for him when he composed Doorie with Atif Aslam. “It has the fluctuating notes that sound very melodious. People seem to love such stuff,” he says.

His inspiration for music comes from everyday happenings. “The moments I live in my live give me ideas. Once I was travelling in the autorickshaw and the driver was singing something in his native language. It was something simple but gave me the stimulation for a great tune,” he ends.