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Brotherhood Fanaa

RANA SIDDIQUI

The music director duo of Jatin-Lalit is splitting up after "Fanaa", but the brothers are not quite happy.

PARTING TIME: Jatin-Lalit are splitting for "practical reasons" but the move is not without its emotional stress.

Some time ago, when Jatin-Lalit were in Delhi to launch the music of the film "Rok Sako To Rok Lo", they saw the audience swaying to the its title song and tapping their feet to "Thode se alag hain" and others. While a young Lalit mingled with the audience, jiving with the music played in the background, the elder Jatin sat in corner, stoically, lost in his own world. Asked the reason, he replied almost bemoaning, "I wish I would get producers who ask me to score music as in `Haqeeqat', `Amar Prem' and `Woh Kaun Thi'."

With the music of "Fanaa", Kunal Kohli's film releasing this Friday, Jatin's prayers have been answered. Partially though.

An epitome of politeness and etiquette that is the trademark of the old world chivalry, Jatin recounts, "Since `Fanaa' is a story set in the Kashmir Valley, it invariably left a lot of scope to score good music. Moreover, if a music director gets a mature pair of actors who understand music and execute it on screen with finer details in mind, it makes his task easier and more exciting. Then it is a Yashraj film, which selects the best of scores for its films. I believe the time for the launch of the music is also just the best, because from no quarter are we hearing music that is both soothing and melodious. There is some popular music going on which overwhelms your senses for some time, but after that you feel so bored that you wonder what made it so popular? So scoring the music of `Fanaa' came as a relief to me. It has a taste that caters to me."

Jatin likes to address the music of "Fanaa" as innovative and not laid-back. "We have used Kashmiri musical instruments like rabab, oud, santoor, sitar and lots of Indian percussions in it. There is one Jayant who played the mandolin for us in `Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'. He has played the rabab for us in it. And we have taken singers like Babul, Shaan, Mahalaxmi, Sunidhi Chauhan. People don't expect this from us," says the veteran who also sang in "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar".

Last film

"Fanaa" is the duo's last film together. They have parted ways to score individually.

Ask Jatin about it and he sighs, "I didn't get separated from Lalit on my own volition. I tried a lot that it doesn't happen but he didn't come around. What do I say? He is my younger brother. My wishes are with him. I can't tell you the reason why it happened, as it doesn't suit my temperament. It is against my ethics to speak about that. I am a God-fearing man. I can only say that it didn't happen overnight. Lalit was trying to get separated for more than a decade. Many of our elders including Javed Akhtar Sahab persuaded him not to do so but he didn't budge. Let me tell you, there is no musical difference between the two of us, because he knows that I am a genuine composer. Differences lie somewhere else. Apko vajah bata kar main apne mayar se neeche nahin ja sakta."

Jatin is known to be more inclined towards the `traditional' type of music unlike Lalit. But for now he is also concentrating on "commercial and yet melodious music" by giving sittings to producers.

"Yashraj Films and Karan Johar know what kind of music I am capable of giving. It is not that I can't deliver `Jhalak Dikhlaja' type of music. It is just that it doesn't go with my taste. But now when I come back after giving sittings to the producers with my musical creations, I feel extremely satisfied."

Won't their separation affect the music in future? "Only time will tell," he says on a note of melancholy.

LAST MELODY Scoring music for professional actors like Aamir and Kajol in "Fanaa" was "easy" for Jatin and "doubly difficult" for Lalit. The results euphonic, nonethless.

Mention "Fanaa" and hear a chuckle in young Lalit's voice. "I am so happy we could score such music that has made us so popular even in South Africa, a fact that I got to know only recently while giving an interview to South African Radio. Our music has become a success because we didn't care for the ongoing trend and went ahead with our own minds. People have lapped it up because they were tired of repetitive music," says Lalit who also credits director Kunal Kohli for making them work in the "right direction". But he differs from his elder brother Jatin on one point. "If you have a mature pair of actors to present your music on screen, it becomes doubly difficult to score the music. You feel really pressurised to deliver your best. There is no scope for any fault with professional actors like Aamir, Rani and Kajol. I know, because we have worked with them in four films earlier. Moreover, this is Kajol's comeback film, so the responsibility was more than in earlier days."

And there is something interesting to note. One of the songs in it, "Chanda Chamke Cham Cham", which is among the top hits these days, is actually taken from a stock the duo kept with Aditya Chopra, the producer of the film. They have worked with him earlier in "Hum Tum", "Chalte Chalte" and "Mere Yar Ki Shaadi Hai", etc.

"This song is two years old. It was actually composed for Kunal's `Hum Tum' for a specific situation. But Kunal decided to scrap that situation. So the song was not put in the film. It came in handy for `Fanaa'," says Lalit. The duo took one year to come up with the music of this film.

It hurts

Lalit still cherishes the moment when he saw an article by Lata Mangeshkar published in a daily newspaper a year ago that said that among the new music composers she found Jatin-Lalit and A.R. Rahman the best. Jatin has very lovingly kept this article in his "personal belongings". Memories of singer Hemant Kumar's son presenting Jatin a harmonium after he heard the music they composed in "Khamoshi - The Musical", are still fresh in the duo's mind.

And when you broach the topic of their separation, Lalit says, "Let's not talk about it. It hurts. But sometimes things go out of your control despite your not wanting it. Reasons are too personal to be disclosed in public. After much pain and personal conflict, now I have come to believe that whatever happens, happens for the best."

Lalit believes that separation will not affect their music. "We bothhave a firm background in music. We will sail through as separate music directors too," he says.

And as a separate music director, Lalit has completed two projects already. He reveals, "One of them is a Bengali film whose director is Raja Sagar and the other is a non-film album by three newcomers, Mona, Shamit and Ankit, while a film called `Jeet' is in the pipeline."

Would Lalit also be seen in his film singing his own songs like Himesh Reshmaiya? "I will. But I will not wear a hat like him. I have hair on my head," he laughs, trying to hide, unsuccessfully, the pain that triggers it.

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