[Reader-list] Bollywood Music, Babloo Da, Prashant Pandey

[Prashant Pandey]

Hi all 
This is my nth(?) posting and want to tell that this is not my last.
A lot of respondents are travelling for shows abroad so i will keep posting interesting things even after the fellowship period.
Thanks to a lot of readers who have taken a very keen and critical interest in my work. 
 
This time I bring for you a conversation with Babloo Chakravarty, Bollywoods’ legendary arranger. Sixty plus, he is full of energy.  A conversation with him opens up a Bible of film music arrangement. He is the past, the present and the future of this industry. He continues to embellish and give structure to threadbare tunes just like he did with R.D. 
Babloo da says that he has been a thorough acoustics composer. He has done it all. He told me that he saw the disco age coming and vanishing
 "this trance-vrance will also vanish in some time, be replaced by some other gimmick” But he believes that pure acoustical form of playing is fast being replaced by sampled digital sounds. This deeply disturbs him. 
Its not that Babloo da is an “old man doing nothing just talking”. Almost every third  hindi hit film comes from this humble Bengali old man. 
When I meet him he takes me by complete surprise “today only my movie releasing 
 what is the name of the movie? Mahesh bhatt film
 Zaahaar” (Zeher) 
I think millions of music lovers especially of the younger generation must thank this old man for arranging the current super hit Zeher which has the club hit “vo lamhe” .

He goes to fetch water for me and I start to look around his small drawing room which is almost half the size of Sarai’ café area. There is a wooden dining table just next to me where a children color book is lying open. Right in front of me there is an old black & white almost 20 by 20 R.D Burman framed photograph.   
Then  with out much fuss I get up and notice the usual awards. What catches my attention is an iifa award for best background score for Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham.
 Before he comes back I get back to the sofa and start checking my Dictaphone for inevitable goof-ups. 
Everything is fine. By now I  have developed an Obsessive compulsive research disorder- checking
re-checking
re-winding- replaying my Dictaphone. I say to myself “why do I have to f*** this piece of metal every time” 

I am slightly nervous as well because I have read and heard about him a lot. 
I advice you all to run a search on him on imdb.com.  Bablu da is actually a 
Violinist  like Pyarelal ji or Ismail Darbar. He has played with all the music directors of the 50s ( Anil Biswas, SD Burman,Salil da , Madanmohan ji , C Ramchandra ji, Kalyan ji anadji. Then “R.D became music director in 1962. Laxmikant Pyarelal in  63 so I played with all of them. But I started doing arrangements from 60 onwards and when Satte pe Satta came out R.D said “ Bablu you join me as an arranger” , so from  that  movie to 1942- a love story I did all R.D films” 

You were associate composer for Ijaazat(1987,Gulzar) ?

See I did everything. I arranged, composed played instruments. It was a close team of people and we had a great time. Then I did Milli and Chupke Chupke for S.D Burman. Shyamal Mitra’s “Amanush” . then Bappi Lahiri came. 
This was followed by Anu and Jatin Lalit. I started with Anu as he was doing Baazigar, Sir, Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aaayi
 that was early nineties. With  Jatin-Lalit I have done some 40 films mohabbatein, Sarfarosh, Raju Ban gaya Gentleman, Kabhi haa  Kabhi Na, Dil vale  Dulhaniya Le Jainge kuch kuch hota hai khamoshi. 


That’s whole Jatin- Lalit catalogue
 

Yes almost all
. 

I see an  IIFA award for Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. 

Yes I got it. It was announced in Malaysia. This is for the background score of the film. First time they decided to give it to composer of background score. I didn’t know about it even I did not know if I was nominated. Jatin called me and said dada you have got an award. 

Tell me one thing dada
 how has it been working with Anu Malik and Jatin-Lalit ?

See these are not young composers. So you should see them as senior composers of current times. They I think are really good at their job. 
Anu is very spontaneous and talented. He is very versatile. 

Dada don’t you think Anu is following the footsteps of Shanker-jaikishen
 

Yes his music is like that.  

He does lot of Mexican style also na?

Yes.. Annu is capable of much more. 

And Jatin-Lalit?

(His eyes brighten up) 

Vo log R.D ka sahi sahi samajhta hai ( they understand R.D very well) 
If R.D were to have a musical successor I think it will be Jatin-Lalit. 
But
but
 only in soft songs
 R.D’s fast song like Pia tu—they still havenot done it anything like that. But both of them are really good. With fast numbers I think they have their own approach. 

And R.D ?

Leave that thing
 it was something different.  Even today R.D is all over
 his style
. Rhythm
scanning


 What is scanning? 


Meter
 from outside (he means just by listening) you can tell its an R.D song
Jatin-lalit follow his sweet songs ( romantic songs). But R.D did lot of gimmick songs like Mehbooba Mehbooba
 its very tough to do that. 
But R.D style comes naturally to Jatin-Lalit. Its not that they listen to R.D cassettes  and then make music. 

They used to sing in R.D’s troop ?

Yes 
 jatin lalit Vijaya( Vijaya Pandit)  Sulochana(Sulochana Pandit) all of them were kids
 they were so small they used to stand on stools as they couldn’t reach the mikes. 



You have a 50 year old career of superhit music making
 what are your emotions right now
with the digital methods coming in
. samples
 pro-tools. 

See sound comes to me in acoustic
 giving heart
 see right now I am talking to you .you are saying yes
yes.. ya.. ya moving your head like that
 your eyes are shining
there is no beat but there is an interaction between us. There is a live-liness to it. This is called contact. This is manual talking. Machine can not do it. Music is also like that. I show you a photo and you say” wah” but if I take you to Kashmir Swtzerland then you will say (with greater emphasis) “waah”. 

Live acoustic is that thing. I call my guitar player. I will say “you are not playing it right “ 
He will say “no I am playing right”
 can a machine say that? I call say Ramesh aiyer Bhupendra or anybody
 they have their own expression
own language 
They speak to me.  Their guitar can cry it can laugh. Are you going to play the same sample for crying as well as laughter? I will call 5 guitar players
everybody plays differently. When they play together in perfect sync then it is music
 people who have played for 30 years
 such people can play. These are people I depend on. I write a score
 I sing it
 I play it on harmonium. 
Then they come and play that piece with their own interpretation. Flute, mandolin brass section, trumpet, 12 string, guitar- absolute manual playing makes a lot of difference.  But I must learn new things like pro-tools. But I must write the score myself. 

Prashant I am trying my best (his voice weakens) but there are times when it becomes very unmanageable for me. Electonics sound design rhythm laptop machines try kar raha hoo.( I am trying these things)  

Do you miss old times?

Right now studios have become very small
. Mics too changed completely.  Recording happens in pro tools. Earlier we did work on 4 tracks.  Every body played together even the singer would sing in one go. 
Imagine those 4 minutes what tension it must be?  “If I make mistake everybody will look at me “ , this is what we thought . There was so much concentration and energy. And above all the musicians and technicians said to them “if I make a mistake lata ji has to sing again
 I must not make a mistake.”   There was confidence and dedication. 
I am not criticizing but so fast we are going these days
u can learn to play computer
 so early so fast ? 
 These days people I meet are scared to say that they are musicians.  
They say all the time “I am just learning sir I am just learning sir”. You can’t test them. They are scared. With machines and laptops and loops they feel safe. I am not saying its bad as your generation loves listening to this music.  But I can not do this way. 
I play acoustics I write my score (bablu da can write both Indian and western notations) proper then sit with musicians who come prepared and record them




It’s a long journey for you dada and guess all musicians must have played for you


I started with Kercy Lord Charanjit Singh then came Ronnie Viju shah then came chtti Taboon ,Amar ,Jackie, Rajesh,  Raju,( Raju Singh)  sardar
 so this is just the keyboard Section players. 

And these are 3 generations of players
.? 

(Correcting me) Four


Yes
 do you see any changes in attitudes with these new and young players?

No not much but they must practice more and more and must keep patience. 

There is no point hurrying to become a music director. Play with different people. Stop. Understand. Be in control then go ahead. 


A lot of second and third generation arrangers I spoke to are in tremendous awe of you. What about filmmakers and producers? 

See anybody who comes to me
 I tell them that I do only acoustics and hence it will cost you. Yet everybody comes. I don’t work if people want artificial sampled music. Without acoustics I won’t do. 

All the producers know it
 what is the name of this film?? 

Zeher? 

Yes
 they gave me extra money to do it. Acoustics playing gives a great sound. 
I am violinist and I call people who have played for 20 years 25 years. Then they sit on the chair. Can such a movie flop? (He means the musical success of the film) Did Dilwale Dulhaniyas music flop?  I will use real people with real instruments
BUT
But I will use pro-tools also. Keyboard programming is fine. But chuck it there and then after you have got a song going. Once the whole song is on the keyboard. I call somebody like Manohari who comes like a lion and plays a saxophone piece or English flute. But prashant, it will be foolishness if I don’t use the current formats of programming. So I have to use both. 
So first get it done on the computer-keyboard then call the musician to play it in his own style.  Then as my musicians come and play their instruments I will keep deleting the electronic version of it.  Voh to nahi rakh sakte na? (We cant keep it can we?) 


But mechanical samples are cheap


But I have lost my musicians due to this.  See there are musicians who are dependent on us. They have their families to support. One musician has 4-5 people in his familiy. Multiply 400-500 with this. 

I heard from an assistant music director that a lot musicians are selling fruit  juice 
As they have no work 
.

Yes work has reduced
 then there is another problem
 nobody encourages 
Their kids to learn guitar or violin these days. Earlier if a player came to a recording with his son
 it was natural that the son was also learning violin and one day would play.. but now no more
 maximum the kids are learning keyboard
as at least they wouldn’t starve. 

Sir. If a commercial trend of using real acoustic sounds come back then we will not have any players after 10-15 years
 

Exactly
 this is my point. Playing in film is a particular style. You learn it after you know both Indian and western styles. This is related to any instrument. 
A lot of international artists come to Bombay to record Bollywood style violin. 

(Interviews with several arrangers revealed that Britney Spears, Boy George, a number of pop artists from south East Asia and England have recorded bollywood style flute, strings, accordion in the past) 
After some time we will have to go to U.S or any other country to record strings because their wont be good players here. I will appeal to everybody that they should think about instruments and players and their families. 

(we stop the interview here but Babloo da says something that I want to record so we start again) 

What is your message for film producers, music directors and so on? 

Prashant
 this is music. Music comes from musicians. I am saying that the musicians are there that’s why we say its music.. How can you make music without musicians?  

............................................................................................................................................
Prashant Pandey (Sarai)



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