Factoid:
Sooraj Dooba Hai was downright rejected by several producers and makers before T-Series honcho Bhushan
Kumar picked it up for Roy.
Mallik beat the ‘Mozart of Madras’ A.R. Rahman to become the second youngest music-director to win the
Filmfare Award at 23, the first being Rajesh Roshan who bagged it at the age of 21 and Rahman was 29 years
old when he lifted up the ‘Black Lady’ for his debut Hindi project as a composer, Rangeela.
Bizarre instances with fans have been many, but there was
this one very beautiful and cute incident that I can very well
recollect is when a 12-yearold boy came down from Kolkata
with his uncle and stayed in Mumbai for four days just to wish
me on my birthday.
Your musical inspiration and key influences:
I avidly listen to eminent German composer and record
producer Hans Zimmer. Music somewhere epitomises Hans
Zimmer for me. The man is a stupendous genius. In the Indian
scene, I’ve learnt a lot from Pritam sir (Chakraborty), Salim
Sulaimanji, Amar Mohile, Sandeep Chowta and voraciously
fed upon a staple collection of the erstwhile gems like Laxmi-
Pyare, R.D. Burman, et al. I grew up listening to Pritamji,
A.R. Rahmansaab and my uncle Anu Malikji. My another
uncle Praveen (maasi’s husband) was also instrumental in
getting me an access to a lot of internationally reputed artistes’
repertoire like that of Dire Straits, Foreigner, Prince, MJ,
ABBA, Kraftwerk, Seal, etc. My regular playlist included an
eclectic choice with names like Tom Holkenborg, Brian Tyler,
Harry Gregson Williams, Enrique Iglesias, Porcupine Tree,
Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nickelback, Coldplay, U2 and Creed
on the inlay card. So, it’s a mixed-bag in toto. Besides, some
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan songs, some Arabic tunes and the beats
of African music would occupy the music-cabinet.
As a composer, how difficult is it to reprise a different
version of an already popular song as remakes of
yesteryear hits seem the current flavour of the season?
The best way to make a reprise/recreation or a tribute piece,
(whichever way you’d like to see it) is to attach your style
to it. True that it’s a current trend to remake old classics or
chartbuster songs and that’s what has been working for the
music market for the moment, but it needs to be done with
great tact I feel. For I always ask myself, “What extra can I lend
to this particular song to reverberate my personal style through
it?” If I can’t shell out something new or add to it musically,
then I prefer not doing it at all. I’d rather refrain from remakes
and concentrate on my own original stuff.
Gone are the days when superhit jodis like Lata-
Kishore, Rafi-Asha, Sanu-Alka, Udit-Sadhna and till
very recently, Sonu-Shreya or Shaan-Shreya would
happily reign the film music industry. Do you miss
the making of such hit pairs as solo voices are more
frequently heard these days?
Well, there are both advantages and disadvantages to this
aspect. A profitable pair suggests more comfort and ease in
working. Also they become increasingly sure and confident
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of getting approached for songs consistently. One big
disadvantage to this system is that no new