Showing posts with label Jigar Saraiya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jigar Saraiya. Show all posts
Whenever Bollywood has failed to offer good music, indie music has come to the rescue-Priya Saraiya
8:31 AM
Kanksha Vasavada (BOMBAY TIMES; March 4, 2023)
Singer-lyricist Priya Saraiya, who has lent her voice to Gulabi and Sun Saathiya, is creating awareness about the rights to royalty of composers and lyricists as a committee member of the Indian Performing Rights Society Ltd (IPRS). In a conversation with us, Priya talks about balancing Bollywood and Gujarati music and more. Excerpts:
‘ARTISTES CAN CLAIM THEIR ROYALTY NOW’
Priya strongly believes that music creators deserve due recognition for their work. On why bodies like IPRS are the need of the hour, she says, “The amount of music created and consumed now has increased many manifolds over the last few years. Now is the time when music creators across industries realize that they can claim the rights for their music, and earn royalty by reaching out to bodies like IPRS.”
‘WHENEVER B’WOOD HAS FAILED TO DELIVER GOOD SONGS, INDIE MUSIC HAS FILLED THE GAP’
An artiste sitting in the remotest part of the country can become an overnight sensation by simply uploading their music or a video on social media. On being asked how this has helped youngsters, Priya says, “There are so many talented musicians who did not get a platform earlier. Social media has bridged the gap now, especially for small town musicians. Earlier, doing playback in Bollywood was a dream for youngsters – now they can live it.”
Indie music’s comeback has changed the way we consume music. Priya says, “I grew up listening to songs from the ’80s and ’90s. Whenever Bollywood has failed to offer good music, indie music has come to the rescue. The ’90s was not an era of Bollywood music, that’s when Lucky Ali, Palash Sen, Shaan and Kailash Kher released singles and audiences loved the music.”
‘LANGUAGE IS NOT A BARRIER FOR GEN Z, THIS AMPLIFIES THE REACH OF A SONG’
While her Bollywood songs may have more recall value, Priya is no stranger to the Gujarati music industry. Ask her about how Gujarati music has evolved over the years, and Priya tells us, “There was a time when nothing was working for the Gujarati industry, neither the films, nor the music. I remember when the music of Bey Yaar, and the single Laadki, had released together; that was the moment when the audience knew they wanted good movies and good songs. The best thing is that, language is not a barrier for this generation, which naturally amplifies the reach of any song.”
‘SACHIN AND I SHARE A GOOD RAPPORT’
We ask Priya about her equation with her musician-husband Jigar Saraiya and his partner Sachin Sanghvi, as a fellow artiste. She says, “Jigar and I often discuss music at home. Sometimes when he is confused, I help him. And he chips in when I have a musician’s block. As for sharing constructive and honest feedback with them, yes, I am very frank with them. Why won’t I be? Ultimately, we share that kind of rapport and I can comment on their music. I only want the best for the two of them. Sachin and I share a devar-bhabhi relationship, we are family, so being honest with him isn’t too difficult.”
‘THE SHELF LIFE OF A SONG DEPENDS ON HOW LONG IT STAYS ON YOUR PLAYLIST’
In a day and age where the success of a song is based on the number of views or hits it garners online, Priya feels that a good song will always find its audience. “Audiences are not fools. If a song is genuinely good, if people really like and enjoy it, it will get real views. If not, the song might have several million views, but they won’t matter after a point of time. The shelf life of a song depends on how long it stays on your playlist.”
Everything was becoming too popcorn. Producers said remixing a hit song is less risky, say Sachin-Jigar
8:21 AM
Capping a horror trilogy with Bhediya, Sachin-Jigar on creating music that suits the genre, but can be consumed in ordinary settings as well
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; November 14, 2022)
With Bhediya, Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya wrap up the final part of Dinesh Vijan’s horror trilogy. Asserting that their equation with Vijan is among the healthiest that composers can share with producers, Saraiya says, “We understand each other to the point that we can decipher why he would ask for a song, even if we don’t feel the need for it in a film.”
While working on each film, the duo has walked the thin line between catering to the genre of horror, and creating songs that can be consumed in ordinary settings. “If you hear the Stree [title] song, you’ll see that the lyrics [address a girl], but you’ll also understand that it is about the protagonist. We always think about delivering something that you can dance to, and can have on your playlist even on a happy day. We don’t think of it as a horror [soundtrack] alone. Similarly, we haven’t addressed the soundtrack of Bhediya as something that should cater to the creature alone. We think of viability in music.”
They intersperse the conversation with discussions on the “exciting” opportunity of creating music, should characters of the three films interact. We ask them if conversations of such an overlap are underway, and they respond with a simple, “Well, yes, and no.”
Showing complete disregard for the music industry’s tendency to latch onto frivolous commercial numbers under the pretext of promoting a film, Sachin-Jigar have instead focussed on consistently delivering musical albums with definite character. The duo points to films like Taal when establishing that a soundtrack’s longevity depends on the attention paid to each number of the album, an aspect that they have tried to address in every project.
Sanghvi admits that while he is seeing a reversal in the trend now, the industry’s “faith” in the traditional music-making process had depleted. “The belief in the process of sitting with the director, producer, lyricists and composers, and subsequently working on the songs, had depleted. During those interactions, there are discussions on songs — one may suggest that something about a track works, and something doesn’t. These are [productive] processes within a team. The producer needs to believe that the composers will deliver songs of all genres — romance, dance, and everything else — that is needed for the making of a comprehensive album. Everything was becoming too popcorn, and centred around the initial impact. Producers said remixing a hit song is less risky. Since it is already a hit, reworking it would be a wise idea. And this mentality was impacting originality. But, things are changing again. A large part of this shift is owing to the changes that have come about in the lockdown and the OTT [boom]. Producers are not depending on weekend collections alone, because they can build [an audience] on the web too. Some of the risk [is mitigated].”
Artistes can’t depend on Bollywood for a chance anymore, feel Sachin-Jigar
8:15 AM
Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; December 30, 2021)
In the last two years, the music industry was heavily impacted due to the pandemic, but it also made artistes realise that they needed to be self-sufficient. Composer Sachin Sanghvi of the musical duo Sachin-Jigar, who suffered from Coronavirus himself, shares how it gave him time to re-evaluate.
“It has been a good time for artistes to understand that they cannot depend on films or a chance from Bollywood anymore. Everybody has to find their own sunshine. We are living in such times that every artiste has a chance to become as popular as a film star,” he explains.
The pandemic opened them up to new ways of making music. The duo came up with the entire album of Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui in the lockdown. Jigar Saraiya adds, “We both have always made music in studio, but the pandemic brought out a new side of making music at home. All the songs were made online, and we were recording and sharing them with Abhishek Kapoor (director) simultaneously.”
Looking back at 2021, the duo agrees that it has been a fulfilling year, as they were able to cater to the masses as well as the critics through their music. “With Roohi, Shiddat and Bhoot Police, we were pretty massy with what we did. But with Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, we struck a balance between the masses and critics,” Saraiya tells us.
As for 2022, the has a jam-packed calendar, composing music for Dasvi and Bhediya along with two web shows and four Gujarati films.
Angrezi Medium: Real father-daughter reunite for their reel counterparts
8:15 AM
Composer Sachin Sanghvi composes, while daughter Tanishkaa lends the playback for a song in the upcoming Irrfan Khan-Radhika Madan film
MUMBAI MIRROR (March 20, 2020)
Among the several things that the Irrfan Khan-starrer Hindi Medium, one of 2017’s profitable and critically acclaimed films, left us with, is the climax song, “Ek Zindagi”, which celebrates the hopes and dreams of every child. The actor’s upcoming outing, Angrezi Medium, not only showcases a new version of the soulful track, but also reunites composer Sachin Sanghvi (of the famous duo Sachin-Jigar) with his singer-daughter Tanishkaa.“It’s difficult for me to define how far I’d go for her, but I do know I’d do everything to see her happy. She was just nine when she sang in the first one (Hindi Medium) and it’s overwhelming to know that she’s doing it all over again,” beams the proud father Sachin.
The composer duo’s other half, Jigar Saraiya adds, ““Ek Zindagi”, has been the soul of the series, it defines the essence of the film and I’m happy that Homi (Adajania, director) and Dinoo (producer Dinesh Vijan) have retained it.”
Homi points out, “Chasing one’s dreams fearlessly is what 'Ek Zindagi' stands for.” Dinesh adds “I loved the original and I love this version even more. “Ek Zindagi, Sau Khwahishaa” (One Life, Hundred Dreams) reminds us to never let go of our dreams.”
The movie will see Irrfan as a doting single father who goes to bizarre lengths to fulfil his daughter’s dreams. Post the trailer’s release, a flood of messages from audiences across the globe requesting for the film to be released earlier have been coming in and the makers have done exactly this, brought forward its date with cinemas to March 13, 2020.
Jio Studios and Prem Vijan present Dinesh Vijan’s Angrezi Medium, a Maddock Films production, directed by Homi Adajania, which releases on March 13, 2020.
Sachin-Jigar keep maintaining a fake image; they are far from what they appear to be-Anonymous singer
8:46 AM
A playback singer opens up to BT about her unpleasant experiences with composers Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya
Soumya Vajpayee (BOMBAY TIMES; October 25, 2018)
A playback singer, on condition of anonymity, exclusively told BT how Bollywood’s noted composer duo, Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya, who have composed songs in films like Hindi Medium, Shuddh Desi Romance, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Meri Pyari Bindu, harassed her until a couple of years ago. Here’s a first-person account: “They are extremely shrewd and sly when it comes to maintaining a fake image, but they are far from what they appear to be. They keep making sexual moves on girls. They have tried putting their dirty hands on a lot of girls and exploited them. It all started in February, 2014. They would call me to their studio at late hours, just to make me sing a scratch, and despite knowing that I am not comfortable, they would continue to make moves and comments that would embarrass me. Since I was a newcomer, I would go and sing for them for free, only for the love of music.
Jigar would frantically call me at nights, wanting to “see me” or “meet me only for five minutes,” even after clearly telling him that I’m only interested in meeting him for music-related work. This was after a couple of inappropriate sexual passes he made at me. No one else in the industry has made me feel so small and insignificant as they have. Other people I have worked with have always treated me with a lot of respect.
Once I was in the recording studio with Jigar, and without wasting much time, he pulled me towards him and tried to kiss me, saying, “Whenever I see you, I feel like grabbing you and this doesn’t happen with everyone.”
I was sadly shocked at the hypocrisy of a married man, who otherwise keeps posting pictures of his wife and kid on social media. Such a bloody hypocrite!
Sachin also made inappropriate passes at me with the hope that I might just be ‘available’ for him. I remember once he said something that made me really uncomfortable. I was recording a song, when he stopped everything, looked at me and said, “You know if I ever watch you perform on stage, I would love to come up and make love to you, in front of everyone, while you would be singing. I don’t care if anybody is watching.” Disgusting isn’t it?
Jigar once asked me, ‘Hey what do you think of a threesome – Sachin, me and you, if you are up for it?’ I was so disgusted by that statement that I decided to never work with them, nor stay in touch with such sexual predators. It has almost been two years now, but I have heard similar stories from my friends/colleagues about them.”
BT tried reaching out to Sachin-Jigar for a response, but there was no reaction from their end till the time of going to press
Ghoul, Stree's music composers on the challenges of composing for creepy scripts
8:14 AM
The background and music composers of Ghoul and Stree discuss the challenge of composing for creepy scripts
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; August 27,2018)
It's almost discomforting to visualise the picture that Ghoul background score composers Naren Chandavarkar (left) and Benedict Taylor (down; right) paint, when describing the lassitude of the environment that inspired their work. Having worked on Netflix's latest Indian offering - the horror that stars Radhika Apte at its front - Chandavarkar says the brief given to them from the onset was to focus on building an environment, instead of resorting to jump scares to keep the tension up.
"A large part of the series is set in an underground bunker with no daylight and no sense of time. We were keen to create that claustrophobia and disquiet, with the score ticking away like some sort of a morbid heartbeat. There had to be the sense of impending doom and alarm."As Taylor asserts that the "zone, pace, rhythm and mood" are kept at the fore when composing for a horror, it is evident by the duo's choice of words that a marked element of tenebrosity is up on offer. "Using scratchy synthetic sirens and martial drums, we created motivic elements. A siren like motif was created when we ran a synthesiser into a bizarrely fast tremolo, which resulted in a mosquito like, scratchy distorted buzz. We played with that pitch to create a rising, ominous and queasy sound. There's also [an element of] mythology [in the show], explaining the world of Ghoul, and the ancient Aramaic chants to summon it. We played with strange vocal techniques to arrive at a sound that worked for it," reveals Chandavarkar, adding that even Taylor's vocals were modulated for use in the score.
Interestingly, while a dystopian set-up is made evident owing to the methodology that the duo employed, another set of music composers, Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya (below) reveal that composing songs for a horror venture is starkly different from creating its score. The minds behind the soundtrack of Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Stree, the composers point to the commercial angle of filmmaking that comes into play, which can even overpower the demands of the genre they are tackling.
"Music is the first part of the film that viewers are exposed to, and hence must be the defining factor that draws them to theatres," says Sanghvi. He adds that since they knew they needed to create tracks that could be played at discotheques and parties, they decided to tackle the theme of horror via the lyrics, not the music. "Having said that, we had to be certain that the songs could carry distinct contexts when seen in the film, and as solo numbers.
For instance, the lyrics of the song Milegi Milegi, which read: "Tujhe bhi milegi, mujhe bhi milegi", refer to the [paranormal] character in the film, but can easily allude to a lover a man seeks, when heard outside the theatre," Sanghvi adds. Having jetted off to Dubai to give their undivided attention to the creation of this soundtrack, the duo asserts that the commercial approach was essential since they had to draw viewers to watch the film featuring "young stars". "This is not a Shah Rukh Khan film where the music can be the secondary aspect. The songs had to serve as promotional material," Saraiya admits.
Inspired by R D Burman, Sachin-Jigar use bottles to compose Chad Gayi Hai for Gold
6:48 AM
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; July 13, 2018)
Unveiled yesterday, the latest track of Reema Kagti’s Gold sees leading man Akshay Kumar in an inebriated state, entertaining a bunch of foreign dignitaries. To add an element of peppiness to Chad Gayi Hai, music composer duo Sachin-Jigar reveal that they played with an array of glasses and glass bottles for the creation of the beats. While the use of props to make music is common, Jigar Saraiya says it was RD Burman’s Chura Liya (Yaadon Ki Baaraat, 1973) that served as their inspiration.
“He had used a glass [to create music in] the song. In fact, he often used real elements to make his beats. Since the song was about getting intoxicated, we decided to use liquor bottles to add a distinct effect.”
Interestingly, the duo didn’t settle for a limited number of bottles, but requested for as many as 100 to create sounds of different frequencies. “The bottles and cans were from different brands, which helped us procure the right sound. We also imported a few. Eventually, only a limited number was used for the final song.”
Rendered by Vishal Dadlani, the track has been arranged by Zakir Hussain’s brother, Taufiq Qureshi, and took 20 days to be crafted. Sachin Sanghvi says, “We have been working on the film for over 18 months and this song was a last-minute addition. We created four versions before zeroing in on this final cut. We wanted a modern sound that didn’t deceive the era that the film is based in.”
Director Kagti, he says, was particular to note that Dadlani sang in Bengali accent, in accordance with the character.
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