JOIN USIt wouldn’t be an overzealous statement if one said that Tanishk Bagchi has taken the nation by storm. His compositions have virtually every single person, irrespective of age, tapping to the beat. If the year began with ‘The Humma Song’, then this month, it has been ‘Tamma Tamma Again’, and the title track of Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Tanishk has hit the bull’s-eye, and he knows it.
“I was least expecting it,” he shrugs his shoulders when I greet him with a hey-you-promising-composer-of-the-year chirp. He has bagged that tag at a recent awards show. “Expectations are a little dicey. But yes, getting an award has given me confidence about my work.”
One of the most talked about new-age music composers in Bollywood, Tanishk has an envious lineage. His father has worked with the likes of R D Burman and was a guitarist for legendary director Satyajit Ray’s films. “Actually, both mom and dad are music teachers for the last 40-50 years. So, I learnt music as I was growing up, but for me it was only a hobby. In fact, I never really saw a career in music,” say Tanishk, smiling at his naivety.
Tanishk used to — would you believe it – teach art and craft in schools? The young man found his calling at a music fest in Kolkata when a friend told him about a college fest that was happening where he was asked to perform.
“I would say that post that fest, I never looked back. People appreciated my music and suddenly I felt that I would be doing a great disservice if I backed off from music, and here I am!” he says, adding, “Hats off to my parents who let me chart my own course. They never once questioned me about why I didn’t want to take up music as my career, and when I decided to, they didn’t ask me what had changed. They just encouraged me to keep going.”
Tanishk came to Mumbai and started composing bits and parts for television shows. His big break came with the swag song ‘Banno’ from Tanu Weds Manu Returns. With the ethereal ‘Bolna’ composed for Dharma’s Kapoor & Sons, Tanishk had hit another home run. But this year has been sensational for him with the remixed versions of A R Rahman’s ‘Humma Humma’ and Bappi Lahiri’s ‘Tamma Tamma’.
“Unknown to many, recreation is a genre of music, and it isn’t like I only recreate songs,” he reacts when asked about Remo’s outburst against the new ‘Humma Humma’ song, which he had originally sung. “He may have not liked it and that’s completely acceptable, but the listeners have loved it,” he says.
Tell him that following up with the recreation of ‘Tamma Tamma’ has typecast him as a remix expert, and he says, “‘Tamma Tamma Again’ was a requirement of the film and, for the record, I love the way Bappida has sung the song. I spoke to him about touching his song before doing anything to it,” says Tanishk.
Tanishk says he is as versatile as they come and works on specific moods or requirements of a film. As a creative person, he constantly looks for ideas and while his other latest hit may sound like the 60s song, ‘Chalat Musafir Moh Liya Re’, he says it’s merely an ‘inspiration’. “Besides that one line, the rest of the song is completely original. In fact, the tune is folksy. It was meant to be a Holi song.”
Tanishk has an interesting line-up for the rest of the year. Up next is Munna Michael with Tiger Shroff, a movie that pays tribute to Michael Jackson’s work. Tanishk has been connecting with the fans of MJ for composing music for this one. He also has Half Girlfriend, starring Shraddha Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor, coming up. “I am doing solo projects too, though I find them more time-consuming despite that full-control feel,” he laughs.
Tanishk is currently kicked about a special 18-minute song composed for Half Girlfriend. “It’s a special one, so you will have to wait for more details on that!” he says.