<p>Music composer-singer Raghav Sachar is back from oblivion with his title track, ‘Rustom Vahi’ for the upcoming Akshay Kumar-starrer Rustom. The musician, with chocolate boy looks, shares his experiences of working on the film, his journey in Bollywood, and what music means to him. Here are the excerpts from the interview:<br /><br /></p>.<p>How does your style differ from the other three composers who have worked on the film?<br />My style differs from mostly everybody, because I use a lot of live instruments. I play multiple instruments myself, so there’s a lot of variation in what I end up doing. You can automatically identify ki ye gaana maine banaya hai, ek joh typical chaap hoti hai (I have a trademark style). Salim-Sulaiman have it, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have it, Rahman saab has it. There’s a typical Raghav Sachar stamp on all my songs.<br /><br />Do you think Rustom will be a game changer for you?<br /><br />I think it’s going to be an interesting film to come out at this time, because it’s been a while since I have composed film music. If you have seen the song ‘Hug Me’, from Beiimaan Love, it is an interesting dance number with a twist. It has a lot of musicality in it. While the Rustom song is a thriller track. It is quite unlike the romantic numbers and party songs that are popular these days.<br /><br />Do you think Bollywood songs are getting repetitive?<br /><br />Bollywood songs are repetitive and typecast. This is mostly because people who know nothing about music are calling the shots. Earlier, directors had a vision for music, and they would work as a team with musicians and music directors to create it. But now, so many people get involved in the process that it becomes a khichdi. And music suffers at the end of the day.<br /><br />Which role are you comfortable in — a singer who composes or a composer who sings?<br />I have always been a composer. Singing is something that has happened late for me. I’m a multi-instrumentalist to start off with and then a composer and then a singer.<br /><br />Who’s your favourite music director and why?<br /><br />RD Burman saab, by far. Because of his futuristic thinking and even Rahman saab. He’s a living legend, a dear friend, and I perform a lot with him.<br /><br />Why do you think Indie music hasn’t caught fancy in India?<br /><br />The presence of Indie music is next to nothing. There was a time when pop music was a separate genre. You know, when artistes including Daler Mehndi, Alisha Chinai and Lucky Ali ruled the Indie scene. Now, you have Adnan Sami, Salim-Sulaiman, Shankar Mahadevan and even me. We are all pop stars who have essentially become music directors.<br /><br />Do you think Bollywood lacks discipline?<br /><br />It definitely does. These days, anybody at anytime can scrap a song from a film, despite the fact that the decision solely lies with the director of the film. Nobody, not even the actor, has the authority to say I don’t want this song. So, there is no discipline, but it has become the rule of the land now. We are playing by those rules. We have no other option. You have to change with time and you have to change with trends.<br /><br />What do you think of remixing old classics. Are you for it?<br /><br />I love recreating songs, but remixing them randomly, without adding any flavour to them, is useless. As an artiste, you have to give something extra. Remixing is essentially done by DJs and they aren’t musicians. DJs are people who are trying to mix two songs together, and they are more like engineers than musicians. While a musician recreates a song in an innovative and tasteful manner, a remixer or a DJ, especially someone who does not have any musical knowledge, will not be able to do justice to the song.<br /><br />Do you plan to take up acting assignments as well?<br /><br />I really don’t mind doing them, because I love being on screen. If you have seen my music videos you know that already. I enjoy being in front of the camera, but I don’t want to do something out of character. I’m not someone who can be dressed in a dhoti and put in a village environment. I’ll not be able to pull that off. I want to stay within the confines of what I can do well. If there’s a film like Rockstar, I would love to play a role like that.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Music composer-singer Raghav Sachar is back from oblivion with his title track, ‘Rustom Vahi’ for the upcoming Akshay Kumar-starrer Rustom. The musician, with chocolate boy looks, shares his experiences of working on the film, his journey in Bollywood, and what music means to him. Here are the excerpts from the interview:<br /><br /></p>.<p>How does your style differ from the other three composers who have worked on the film?<br />My style differs from mostly everybody, because I use a lot of live instruments. I play multiple instruments myself, so there’s a lot of variation in what I end up doing. You can automatically identify ki ye gaana maine banaya hai, ek joh typical chaap hoti hai (I have a trademark style). Salim-Sulaiman have it, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have it, Rahman saab has it. There’s a typical Raghav Sachar stamp on all my songs.<br /><br />Do you think Rustom will be a game changer for you?<br /><br />I think it’s going to be an interesting film to come out at this time, because it’s been a while since I have composed film music. If you have seen the song ‘Hug Me’, from Beiimaan Love, it is an interesting dance number with a twist. It has a lot of musicality in it. While the Rustom song is a thriller track. It is quite unlike the romantic numbers and party songs that are popular these days.<br /><br />Do you think Bollywood songs are getting repetitive?<br /><br />Bollywood songs are repetitive and typecast. This is mostly because people who know nothing about music are calling the shots. Earlier, directors had a vision for music, and they would work as a team with musicians and music directors to create it. But now, so many people get involved in the process that it becomes a khichdi. And music suffers at the end of the day.<br /><br />Which role are you comfortable in — a singer who composes or a composer who sings?<br />I have always been a composer. Singing is something that has happened late for me. I’m a multi-instrumentalist to start off with and then a composer and then a singer.<br /><br />Who’s your favourite music director and why?<br /><br />RD Burman saab, by far. Because of his futuristic thinking and even Rahman saab. He’s a living legend, a dear friend, and I perform a lot with him.<br /><br />Why do you think Indie music hasn’t caught fancy in India?<br /><br />The presence of Indie music is next to nothing. There was a time when pop music was a separate genre. You know, when artistes including Daler Mehndi, Alisha Chinai and Lucky Ali ruled the Indie scene. Now, you have Adnan Sami, Salim-Sulaiman, Shankar Mahadevan and even me. We are all pop stars who have essentially become music directors.<br /><br />Do you think Bollywood lacks discipline?<br /><br />It definitely does. These days, anybody at anytime can scrap a song from a film, despite the fact that the decision solely lies with the director of the film. Nobody, not even the actor, has the authority to say I don’t want this song. So, there is no discipline, but it has become the rule of the land now. We are playing by those rules. We have no other option. You have to change with time and you have to change with trends.<br /><br />What do you think of remixing old classics. Are you for it?<br /><br />I love recreating songs, but remixing them randomly, without adding any flavour to them, is useless. As an artiste, you have to give something extra. Remixing is essentially done by DJs and they aren’t musicians. DJs are people who are trying to mix two songs together, and they are more like engineers than musicians. While a musician recreates a song in an innovative and tasteful manner, a remixer or a DJ, especially someone who does not have any musical knowledge, will not be able to do justice to the song.<br /><br />Do you plan to take up acting assignments as well?<br /><br />I really don’t mind doing them, because I love being on screen. If you have seen my music videos you know that already. I enjoy being in front of the camera, but I don’t want to do something out of character. I’m not someone who can be dressed in a dhoti and put in a village environment. I’ll not be able to pull that off. I want to stay within the confines of what I can do well. If there’s a film like Rockstar, I would love to play a role like that.<br /><br /></p>
