Now Bollywood composers are singing for each other: Vishal

New Delhi, April 6 (IANS) Music directors in Bollywood are experimenting with new voices these days, but a new trend catching up is composers singing in one another's films, says Vishal Dadlani of music composer duo Vishal and Shekhar.

'Music directors in Bollywood are singing for each other a lot which is a beautiful thing. Shekhar (Ravjiani) just sang for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. In the past, I have sung for Pritam (Chakraborty), Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Rakesh Roshan. So we are trading songs back and forth,' Vishal told IANS in an interview here.

'It's really entertaining because it adds a whole new dimension to the song. Especially when a music director comes in to sing a song for you. For example, when Shankar (Mahadevan) sang 'Desi girl' in 'Dostana' for us, he took the song to a new level,' he added.

The composer-singer recently lent his voice to the track of 'Kaminay' for Vishal Bharadwaj and also for 'Nazaara hai' in the film '8x10 Tasveer' for Salim-Sulaiman.

Vishal, who along with his partner Shekhar hit the bull's eye with 'Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi' in 1999, managed a hit in his first film itself with the popular song 'Musu musu'.

The duo later went on to create chartbusters in films like 'Jhankaar Beats', 'Om Shanti Om', 'Salaam Namaste', 'Tashan', 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' and 'Dostana' among others.

Calling their journey in Bollywood a smooth drive, Vishal said: 'Sometimes things just happen for you. A door opens and you walk through it and providence assures that it all happens for you. 'Musu musu' was the first commercial song I had ever recorded and it went straight to number one.'

Vishal, who is also the vocalist of Mumbai-based electronic band Pentagram, has always worked to bring fresh talent in the forefront and he maintains that many other composers are also working towards the same.

'From Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to Pritam and A.R. Rahman, we all as far as possible are trying to nurture and groom new talent. It's a movement that has been going on for the last two-three years. Nothing is going to remove or replace the established singers because they are truly talented, but it's beautiful the way a new voice can refresh a song,' said Vishal.

The composer, who has also penned down lyrics for the song 'Kuch Kum' in 'Dostana', has worked with industry biggies like Yash Chopra, Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan. Associations with such films offer brighter future prospects, but is there enough creative freedom while working on such projects?

'Creative freedom is not a problem even when it comes to films for big producers. It's just that you as a composer should make sure that you can accentuate the emotions of the film musically.

'If you are working on a fun film, you don't set out to try to prove how much classical music you know. You try to make music that is young with an element of fun that works for the film and also keeps the director's vision which is most important,' the composer explained.

Vishal-Shekhar is touted as one of the best in the business now and the duo has its hands full at the moment. Its first release of the year will be Amitabh Bachchan-starrer 'Aladdin' in June. It is also working on various untitled films for Tarun Mansukhani, Siddharth Anand, Ravi Chopra, Tips and T-Series respectively.

Besides, the duo is judging a children's musical reality show 'Amul Voice of India - Mummy Ke Superstars' on STAR Plus.