For the World Music Day concert in Kolkata, multi-hyphenate power couple Rekha and Vishal Bhardwaj took time off from their hectic schedule and many interactions with fellow artistes and filmmakers to speak to us. In a cosy room with a piano, family portraits and antiques, the duo shared their views on cinema, poetry, music and more.

Vishal Bhardwaj: I don’t mind using any means to reach out to as many people as possible with my work. That’s how you sell profound and aesthetic ideas like literature and music. It is like meethi dawai.

Rekha Bhardwaj: Besides, there are so many Instagram handles that are sharing good poetry, actors are reading from scripts, reciting couplets. I have discovered some very good music and talent in the process. Our film work gets a wider audience anyway. I see an opportunity in using the apps and various social media platforms to get people to discover the more serious and niche aspects of our craft.

RB: It’s a bit of a mixed bag, really. You meet some people who are still very rooted and there are those who are not seriously invested into music. There are purists and there are people who have ‘jawani ka josh.’ There are very few who are taking up music and poetry seriously. Like the Kabir Cafe in Delhi, who seem to have some potential.

RB: I would first hear him or her out to see if there is talent and the inclination to do the hard work that is required to be successful. You see, if your definition of success is being liked by everyone, you are likely to be unhappy with whatever you do or achieve. If you get 100 followers, you will crave for a thousand more. And even then you will sulk. We have never craved numbers. But focussed on our art and people just came along, connected with our work. Like Gulzar Saab has always told us, “Success on your terms.”

VB: When we came up, they were very dark times. Now there are so many platforms to showcase your work. At that time there were only recording companies and they were advocating only popular music. Perhaps rightfully so. For them it was commerce. For us it is art. There’s a huge difference. But if you are really talented you can defy the odds with your perseverance and hard work. There is no room for arrogance or shortcuts here.

(Smiles) I started this movement with Makdee and The Blue Umbrella and somewhere went on to do different kinds of work. We are a very insensitive adult society. We do nothing for our children, and in the name of entertainment we give them the trash of Bollywood, the really bad dubbed versions of foreign shows. But yes, we are planning a sequel of Makdee, and Shweta Prasad (played a double role) will be involved in the making of the film.

It is worse. OTT is not interested because they say they work on subscriptions and children are not their subscribers. They’ll never make any investments for Indian content for that age group. I tried working with Ruskin Bond’s Mr Oliver’s Diary (a gun-toting, violin playing headmaster, a leopard and other creatures). My long-time associate Aditya Nimbalkar and I had a script. I went to everyone. Trust me, no one was interested.

I have been using various dialects and actors from the time I made Kaminey. There was a Bengali gangster, and a Nigerian one. I love all languages and dialects and the authenticity that they bring to any film. The biggest positive of OTT is this, they broke this myth that everything has to be done in English to be commercially successful. And I had a big problem with it. I had an issue with Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. Because it was made in English by a Hollywood studio to appease the world market. In the film, beggars are begging in English in Indian streets. I felt so disconnected with it even though it was a beautiful cinematic experience. It just did not have that authenticity.

RB: Even in Slumdog Millionnaire…

VB: That’s right. In slums we do not speak in English or read Three Musketeers. I had a problem with that.

I have been trying to work with this song for four decades. The lyrics are universal; you can put it in any context. It could be political or personal. Patta patta buta buta haal hamara jaane je…(hums) every leaf, every plant knows my state of mind except the flower…We are happy that we finally managed to give this classic our own touch, and released it on World Music Day.

------------------------------