Notes from life

At a time when a new hit song — almost always an item song— is born every day, one needed a Sawaar Loon to remember the beauty of sepia-tinted melodies. That the song continues to be popular months after its release is proof that everybody loves a well-crafted song. And as someone who’d slogged over the music of the film, you can almost evince music director Amit Trivedi giving himself a pat on the back for the praise his compositions for Lootera seem to attract even today.

“When I hear people telling me that they went to watch the movie solely for the sound track, I feel good,” he reveals, before admitting that Lootera was a challenge that tested him and his capabilities. “Lootera demanded the most from me as a music director,” he says adding, “Creating the background score in particular was a Herculean task. It was a tough one to pull off.
When director Vikramaditya Motwane heard it, he hugged me and asked me how I’d done it?”

But then Lootera is a job done and dusted. Trivedi right now is busy with Bombay Velvet and Queen. Not just that. The music director recently was in the news for the tribute song he’d composed for Sachin Tendulkar for Google Plus. Called Thank You Sachin, the song has Trivedi as its composer and producer, Swanand Kirkire as its lyricist and newbie Arun Haridas Kamath providing the vocals.

Trivedi gets lively talking about the song. “When the offer to compose the song came my way, I jumped at it. I am a huge fan of Sachin, I was 10 when I started watching him play, today I am 34 and I still look up to him as a role model. Creating the song was the most beautiful feeling,” Trivedi says, while acknowledging that Tendulkar heard the song and commended the effort.
One of the noticeable things about Trivedi as composer is his proclivity to introduce new singers.

Commenting about it, he avers, “Times are changing. And the thought process of the younger generation, including me, is to adopt a different approach every time. So where using a popular singer can lend a ‘been there done that’ feel to a song, using a new voice with a fresher texture can take the composition to a whole new level. That I think would be my selfish reason for using new singers.”

Now, as someone who’s made it in the ‘big, bad world of the Indian film music industry’ — a description he agrees with — Trivedi states that the trick to making it here is to have “lots of patience.” “The place takes a lot out of you, so it is up to you to handle whatever comes your way. Stay very calm, be very patient, stick to the basics and stay simple, else this world will eat you up,” is the advice he proffers aspiring Bollywood musicians. 

Finally, quiz him what inspires him to keep at it in spite of the 12 to 14-hour long strenuous schedules and unreasonable demands from producers, and Trivedi says, “It’s the passion I have for music, and life itself. I consider life as my biggest teacher and mentor. I’ve struggled hard and those experiences have taught me a lot, and that’s where I find inspiration for my music.” 

QUICK FIVE
A song that brings tears to my eyes always: Yeh Jo Des Hai Mera from Swades. A R Rahman has composed it with so much passion.

The toughest thing about being a music director is: Staying as one!

My mentor: I wish I had a mentor. That said, Anurag Kashyap is someone who I look up to and go to for advice.

Shows like MTV Coke Studio, the Dewarists etc... Are good for encouraging independent music. But because everything revolves around Bollywood in this country, it will take time for such shows to succeed on a bigger level.

My best work yet: Has been for movies that have not been released yet (laughs). I consider my work for Trishna and Pehla Sitara as my best yet, but they’ve been stuck in the cans for so long.