Michael Jackson and Tanishk Bagchi
Soumya Vajpayee Tiwari (MID-DAY; March 7, 2017)

While working on the soundtrack of Tiger Shroff-starrer Munna Michael, based on a die-hard fan of Michael Jackson, Tanishk Bagchi set himself a challenging target. The composer, who has hits like Banno (Tanu Weds Manu Returns), The Humma Song (OK Jaanu) and Tamma Tamma Again (Badrinath Ki Dulhania) to his credit, wanted to create songs with an undeniable connect to MJ’s music.

Bagchi researched on the late pop icon extensively and got in touch with over 200 MJ fans across India. This included face-to-face interactions and social media chats. “What emerged was that Michael Jackson’s Indian admirers, from the most unlikely places, idolise him and follow his music. It was imperative for me to reach out to them and gather a sense of what they expect from songs inspired by MJ. I connected with people via social media and my team helped send out e-mails to ardent fans. Then, I wrote compositions based on those findings,” says Bagchi.

MJ fans from Bhopal, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, helped him with his research, which spanned over two months. “I realised that the iconic musicians of the '90s still have hold on people in small towns,” he says.