No, King Khan and his Knight Riders aren’t the only ones riding high on this inspirational number as they gear up to stake their claim to the cricket kingdom. A national rage already, at least a trillion are taken in by this war cry. But the ones who truly deserve credit for this number shy away from owning up to the exploit. Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani hit the right note.
Composing the theme song for the much-talked-about Kolkata IPL team is no mean feat. Ask Vishal about this and he says, all that the duo did was a Salaam Namaste to SRK’s proposal. “When Shah Rukh told us about this, we knew it would be fun.” But since the opening lines are in Bengali, one wonders how much of the language is known to the duo. Vishal puts all suspicion to rest as he echoes what he had said while addressing the students at a university campus in Kolkata.
“Apart from Korbo, lorbo… I know another line, Ekhane khub gorom ar ekhankar meyerao khub gorom.” As one reads humour between the lines, the lyricist-composer-singer elaborates that ‘good friend’ Sujoy Ghosh, director of Jhaankar Beats, has helped with the Bengali lines.
Ask what they had to keep in mind while humming Tara Rum Pum in isolation and Vishal is quick to quip, “It was solely SRK’s idea. He wanted the song to have a Pujo feel to it so that everyone living in Kolkata can relate to the number. We wanted the song to be inspirational.” But bowling the maidens over with a cricket song isn’t an easy job, if one isn’t passionate about the game. Vishal quickly rules out the possibility.
“I’ve always been a cricket-buff. Collecting caps, bats, balls with cricket logos comprises a large part of my growing up. I was glued to the idiot box for over 24 hours when India lifted the cup in 1983. Even now, I watch a match on TV whenever time permits.”
No Bluffmaster this composer is and there is reason to believe every word that he says. But an inspirational song later, will Knight Riders get all the backing from the duo? Vishal says he’s already in love with everything about the team — the jersey, song and team leader. “I’ll catch all the Kolkata matches for sure,” he quickly adds.
Slowly the conversation steers towards work in general and the OSO-talked-about music director duo seems more motivated after a cracking year. But when it comes to composing music, isn’t it a marriage of influences, with Vishal being a part of Pentagram and Shekhar, a trained classical musician? “We’ve a lot of fun together. We crack jokes, laugh and take work slow and easy. It’s our friendship that keeps us going.”
The year gone by had also seen the duo don the judges’ hat for SaReGaMaPa, a music reality show. About their tryst with reality TV, Vishal is more than content with their discovery. “It was great to hear a host of young and talented singers. The top 10 contestants are to watch out for. We are happy discovering new talents.” Composing, penning lyrics or singing — what’s Vishal’s forté, we wonder and he laughs it off saying, “I’m happy as long as I’m with music.”
Success does wonders to people and Vishal-Sekhar isn’t any exception. The duo’s superbly motivated as they await Tashan’s release. “It’s a cool film. The music has great energy,”
Vishal quips, adding that Om Shanti Om continues to be their favourite. “After seven months of music release, I’m still getting congratulatory messages,” his voice trails off.
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