Amit Trivedi’s music was called “clutter breaker” when he started off in Hindi films in 2008. However, constantly being looked at for that and fulfilling the expectations to deliver something not run-of-the-mill might be slightly harder for artistes. So does the pressure get to him, especially in the era of viral songs and social media trends? 

“Sometimes it does,” says the Shubho Shubho composer (Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway), adding, “I don’t get up in the morning and say, ‘Let’s be a clutter breaker’. I am just doing my job. I follow the brief when I am composing for a film and do what is right for it. Ultimately, we all want our music to work.” 

The 43-year-old, who has his own label now, isn’t one to follow trends. With the exception of Hungama (Queen; 2013), he hasn’t remade any classics: “I am a composer and creator; I want to create; why would I want to recreate? Sometimes there is a pressure that comes from the labels, ‘You have to do it’, but every composer wants to create their own music.”

He adds, “Aisa nahin ki maine recreations nahin kiye. I did Hungama; it was a part of the narrative. After that, too, pressure came from the labels to do this and that recreation. Whatever organically fits in the film and is required there, we do it. Just for the sake of making it, we don’t.” 

Trivedi thinks that the audience is the reason why so many rehashes are being churned out on such a massive scale. “Maybe the viewers have liked it and accepted it; that’s why they recreate it more. It’s a demand-and-supply world. If people like it, why will the labels not make it for them? It’s a business. Eventually, yeh sab logon ke liye hi hai. Why do they like it so much? There are numbers [to prove it],” he explains.