Salim Merchant, one half of the music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman, mentioned that the impartial music scene has grown to the extent that it has began sounding like movie music. “Our film music always wanted to sound independent. But now there’s a fine line because the independent music is sounding like film music and vice-versa. So there’s no demarcation between the two. They all sound the same,” Salim informed indianexpress.com.
Salim, alongside along with his elder brother Sulaiman Merchant, has been within the enterprise for practically three many years, having performed a task within the evolution of Indian music. From a musician and a programmer to teaming up with trade greats like Laxmikant-Pyarelal and RD Burman, Salim feels lucky to have labored with stay musicians, and with worldwide artistes reminiscent of Lady Gaga. He has additionally dabbled in digital music and background scores.
Salim-Sulaiman have been composing music for Bollywood for over 20 years now. (Photo: Instagram/Salim Merchant)
“Fortunately, the industry pushed us to different levels. Now we own our own label called Merchant Records, which not just releases new cinema music but from different artistes from across the country and different genres,” he mentioned. But regardless of embracing new age tendencies and methods, Salim shared that gone are the times when severe effort was put into storytelling. “A decade ago, people made stories into films. These days there’s a lot of focus on setup. It’s like ‘let’s do a film with Deepika Padukone’. Idea should originate from a story. I don’t find films very exciting nowadays. I shouldn’t be saying it, but it’s the truth.”
“That’s why music of the movies we worked on did very well. Dor wasn’t a big film, but the music did so well. ‘Yeh Honsla’ was recognised. Same with Iqbal, where ‘Aashayein’ stood out. There are a lot of movies where few songs are remembered. There was no social media at that time. It was a very organic phase of life. But I don’t want to complain because there’s a constant change everyone’s going through,” he added.
So how does he look again on the duo’s memorable compositions in movies reminiscent of Chak De! India, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Fashion, Kurbaan, Aaja Nachle and Band Baaja Baaraat? He mentioned that music right now requires social media validation. “Today, music is made for Instagram Reels. If it’s popular on Reels, then there’s excitement. Even creators are making music that’s pleasing to ears for a short span of time. That’s sad,” Salim mentioned.
While he picked Chak De! India director Shimit Amin as his favorite collaborator, he recalled how composing music for the movie was a really troublesome course of. Salim revealed that regardless of being a sports activities movie, it had rather a lot subtext–a Muslim man enjoying the coach, staff-spirit, patriotism, ladies empowerment, etcetera. So, cracking the suitable tune for its title observe wasn’t simple.
“We thought we’ll make a very patriotic and emotional song which the producer rejected. Then we made a song with a lot of josh. But it had no emotion, so I only rejected it. We kept failing, to the extent there was a roadblock and we thought of quitting the film than do a bad job. But my brother kept pushing me. One day lyricist Jaideep Sahni came up with the lines ‘Kuch Kariye’. I restarted composing it on a blank slate and we had a beautiful song by the end of the day. Then Sukhwinder Singh put his voice and soul in it,” he mentioned.
Sukhwinder Singh might need added life to “Chak De! India” however that’s as a result of his voice was apt for the track. What if a music director realises within the recording room that the singer roped in isn’t the suitable alternative? Salim took this query in his stride and mentioned, “All the songs I’ve sang for Salim-Sulaiman have been the wrong choice (laughs). I’ve always been a composer. I never imagined that I’ll be able to go on the other side of the mic. But at times the producer and director, while making the song, get married to the existing voice which is mine. As a result of that, I’ve sung a few songs.”
Salim Merchant has lent his voice to “Mar Jaavan”, “Ainvayi Ainvayi”, “Shukran Allah”, “Maula Mere Lele Meri Jaan” and “Khudaya Ve”. Salim-Sulaiman have additionally composed hit background scores for films reminiscent of Dhoom, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Krrish, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Dostana, Salaam Namaste, Love Aaj Kal, Anjaana Anjaani, Cocktail, Fanaa, Hum Tum, Aitraaz, Partner, Bang Bang, Race, No Entry and Singh Is Kinng.
Salim believes that if one makes good songs, it’ll have a timeless high quality no matter the movie doing nicely or not. “Like Aaja Nachle wasn’t a blockbuster but ‘O Re Piya’ did very well, so were all its songs. So it’s not that if the film works, then only the music works. It’s important for the film to get support from its music. It should weave with the story beautifully,” he mentioned.
Salim and Sulaiman Merchant restarted the musical motion ‘Bhumi’ in 2020. It introduced collectively over two dozen singers and folks artistes from throughout India. Speaking in regards to the siblings having stayed collectively for all these years, within the instances when collaborators like them typically half methods, Salim laughed and concluded, “We do fight like every other duo, but music always wins. There’s no pyaar if there’s no takraar.”
