Hi GUYS,
Here is the latest Interview from HR...
On a success roll
Rajiv Vijayakar speaks with Himesh Reshammiya who has taken the Indi pop scene and film music by storm with his voice and music.
He's sensation incarnate. "The process of becoming a rock star has
already begun!" declares Himesh Reshammiya. The smile may be too
low-voltage for the term, but the attitude is just right, and that's
what has worked big-time in his videos as well. A frayed baseball cap,
a cheek adornment that can be best described as a stubble-meets-beard,
a trademark jacket without which the man does not step outside his
suburban duplex, and a melancholy, wistful, pain-laden expression that
is studiously maintained even on celebratory occasions like his music
launches or award speeches – like with his music, Himesh Reshammiya has
tailored even the rock star leitmotif to a homeland that is more known
for kheer than caviar.
Himesh today can afford to be magnanimous to past critics and
present detractors who term him a huge bubble that will burst soon, and
to those who ridicule his voice and singing abilities, calling him a
lucky man in the right place filling a void in which contemporaries and
music sales are floundering so badly.
"Rehman lavishly complimented Aashiq Banaya Aapne and called it the
most rocking album of 2005. And T-Series tells me that Aap Ka Surroor,
my first album as a composer-singer, is the biggest seller ever in
Indian non-film music," crows the composer. "For over six months, I
have also topped the film charts with Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Aksar and
now Tom Dick And Harry. I can only thank the Almighty and my fans for
this, apart from my writer Sameer and T-Series."
Move over Karunya and Sandeep, here is the new Indian Idol. At a
time when music sales in physical format (as in CDs and cassettes) are
plunging by the day, Himesh albums sell like hot cakes across the
nation, bridging the gap, as only a few composers like Shankar
Jaikishan, Laxmikant Pyarelal and R D Burman (incidentally Himesh's
idols) have accomplished before, between the small-town and rural
masses and the pub-hopping metro youth. And what is truly unprecedented
besides his complete takeover of the charts is that this son of
musician and small-time music director Vipin Reshammiya and the protg
of actor Salman Khan has done it in two capacities – as music director
and singer.
"My voice is taiyyar and classically trained," says Himesh. "When
they wrote me off for my nasal rendition in the high octave in the
title-tracks of Aashiq.. . and Aap Ka Surroor, I showed my range by
doing Jhoom jhoom (Tom Dick And Harry) and my latest hit Aashiqui hai
meri (36, China Town) in the middle octave and Chhed de pyar ki baat in
my album in the lowest one, which were not at all nasal.'
He scoffs at the overkill theory (over 20 tracks as singer within
six months when other music directors sing just a few songs every year)
and says, "I must be doing something right if almost every song I have
sung has become a hit. Successful albums do not just benefit me but the
entire industry. In the past, the music of Kya Dil Ne Kahaa, Chura Liya
Hai Tumne and Yeh Hai Jalwa did well even when the films bombed. That
is because when I take up a film I only concentrate on doing my best!"
The Gods are raining fame and fortune on him in a mega-dose: how
does he react to that? Is he cocksure he knows the public pulse,
insecure of whether he may fall soon, or doubly motivated?
The music maker ponders for a few seconds and replies, "The only
thing I am sure about the public is that they want something new every
few weeks, not every few years as it was earlier. You are only as good
as your last release, and so I intend to keep bringing changes fast –
before I lose my audience. At the same time, I cannot afford to think
of my recent successes when I am making music, but must keep doing my
best. Music is one field where the more you work the better you are –
the great music makers of yesterday did their best work in their
busiest phase."
He adds, "I have made it a practice to compose two to three good
melodies every day. That sounds impossible but it happens on most days
and I can only thank divine intervention for that."
He presents a footnote: "But what I will always maintain,
irrespective of whether I am experimenting with different sound, styles
or packaging is the solid core of Indian melody. All my hits have had
the base of Indian raags regardless of their beats, which is why every
kind of listener has liked them. The melody must be strong and must
dominate over the orchestration."
How confident is he of sustaining, which is where most sensations
fizzle out? "I have always opened my cards slowly," he declares. "I
composed my first melody as a kid. I produced TV serials from my own
stories (like Andaz) wherein I tested my tunes on the masses as their
title-songs. Then Salman bhai gave me the break he had promised with
one song in Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya. Branded as a traditional melodist
in my first few films, I showed my youthful shade with Mohabbat hai
mirchi (Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne), gave raag-based melodies in Tere Naam
(the biggest-selling film soundtrack in the last five years), a
Sufi-rock blend in Aashiq Banaya Aapne and the Banaras gharana style in
Banaras – A Mystic Love Story. There are so many cards to go!" For
Himesh, success has never been a gamble. It's about having the right
tricks up the sleeve.
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Edited by teenindia_usa - 17 years ago
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