Music has always been a passion and not a profession, say composer duo Salim–Sulaiman
Sanskrita Bharadwaj (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 2, 2020)

Music composers Salim–Sulaiman grew up in a family where music was a tradition. Salim mastered the piano at the Trinity College of Music in London, UK, while Sulaiman took up tabla training with legends such as Taufiq Qureshi and Ustad Zakir Hussain.

Composing music for over two decades now, they have scored for films like Chak De! India (2007), Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) and Fashion (2008), among others. Over the years, the duo have also composed for many indi-pop performers including Viva, Aasma and Shweta Shetty, among others, composed and produced several TV commercials and collaborated with many artistes.

In an upcoming tribute concert titled Ustad Alla Rakha - A Homage to Abbaji, the duo will be performing to pay their respect to the timeless legacy of the tabla maestro. The two spoke to us about their love for music, the concert and their future plans. Excerpts:

What does your set for Ustad Alla Rakha — A Homage to Abbaji consist of?
Salim: Our set is going to be a mix of some folk fusion compositions that we have composed for another music show. It will also have some devotional songs featuring the Manganiyars of Rajasthan. Abbaji was a film composer too and we feel it is going to be fitting if we perform our popular film hits as well.

How relevant is a concert of this magnanimity in this day and age? How does it feel to be part of the concert as you will be performing for the first time?
Salim: This concert will be the most memorable one for me and Sulaiman, as we have been students of music under Ustad Zakir Hussain and Taufiq Qureshi. It’s a big honour for us to be part of this grand annual celebration. This will be my third time as a musician, but as a featured artiste, it’s going to be our first time.
Sulaiman: Zakir bhai and Taufiq bhai both have been mentors and gurus for both Salim and me, and for us to perform alongside them, will be a privilege and an honour.

Can you elaborate on your association with Ustad Zakir Hussain and your inspiration from Ustad Alla Rakha?
Salim: Ustad Zakir Hussain has been my teacher, guide, friend, a father figure from whom I’ve learnt a lot. From a very young age, I’ve been a part of his projects as a musician and then got the opportunity to perform with him under Tabla Beat Science. He’s been my idol and my mentor both as a musician and as a human being. I’m very grateful to have his guidance. I’m also very fortunate to have Taufiq bhai as our guru, mentor and friend. We’ve learnt so much under him and continue to do so. We had the greatest opportunity to meet Abbaji and have him witness some of the rehearsals while I was part of Surya (a fusion band with Taufiq Qureshi). Abbaji’s loving nature still lingers in our hearts.

What do you think about the way your career has panned out?
Salim: I’ve never really thought about my music as a career, it has always been my passion and my ‘sadhana’, and it will continue to be so. We’ve tried to compose a good melody rather than running after creating hits. I believe a good song will mostly turn into a hit if it has that good, timeless melody.
Sulaiman: Music started out as a passion than a profession and you know what they say, ‘Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life’. We’ve been fortunate enough to have great mentors, who have taught us the importance of good music. We were also very fortunate to have worked in an era where innovative music was well appreciated. Our journey is far from over, but I must say it has been a good one so far.

What are your upcoming projects?
Salim: We’ve scored music for a film called Desert Dolphin. It’s an Indo-American film by Manjari Makijany. I’m also very excited about our new album, Bhoomi 2020. It’s releasing this year.

What is your opinion about covers and remixes?
Salim: I think remakes and remixes should have a little relevance. Labels and filmmakers need to have some thought before they just put out an old ’80s or ’90s hit into a new movie. It’s getting a bit too much. I think everyone (audience) is just done with that.

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; August 11, 2017)

Farhan Akhtar’s love for music is well- known — the actor has crooned several numbers in his previous outings, Rock On (2008), Rock On 2 (2016) and Dil Dhadakne Do (2015), among others. Akhtar has now tried his hand at a cappella for the song Ek Kabootar, Do Kabootar from his forthcoming film, Lucknow Central, where he plays a jailbird.

A cappella is essentially a style of singing, solo or group, without any instrument accompaniment. Director Ranjit Tiwari says the idea of including this form of music came from daily life incidents. He says, “Sometimes, when we are talking to someone, the person is tapping his foot. It is from here that we got the idea of giving these traits a musical bend. So, while writing the characters of the film, these traits naturally became a part of them.”

Producer Nikkhil Advani says that they explored the a cappella style as the song is based in jail and the inmates wouldn’t be familiar with musical instruments. “Since the jail inmates aren’t competent with musical instruments, we decided to incorporate body percussion and a cappella techniques. We got ace percussionist Taufiq Qureshi on board, he added a lot of layers to the song.”

The makers also brought world famous body percussionist Bharat Verma on board to train the actors, including Akhtar. “Everyone — Farhan, Gippy [Grewal], Deepak [Dobriyal], Rajesh [Sharma] and Inaamulhaq — submitted themselves to learning this technique and have actually performed it in the song.”

The veteran poet-lyricist has penned two Urdu songs for Malayalam filmmaker Kamal's biopic on Kamala Das which will roll next month
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 26, 2016)