'Shankar is a great sketch artist, cartoonist and could easily be a chef'

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonsa

For a generation bred on a healthy dose of Bollywood music of the 2000s, a quick glimpse into Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's (SEL) vast discography opens a treasure chest of memories. Even today, the electric guitar riffs in Dil Chahta Hai's title track stoke your desire to embark on a road trip, while Kal Ho Naa Ho reinstates your belief in carpe diem.

(From left) Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa at a concert at NCPA, this March

A sangeet night feels incomplete without a few thumkas to Kajra Re. And you need to simply plug into Socho Ke Jheelon Ka Sheher Ho to soothe your weary soul. "Songs exist outside the space of a film. At the end of the day, even if I can help 10 people through music, it's gratifying," asserts Loy Mendonsa, who, along with Shankar Mahadevan and Ehsaan Noorani, forms the SEL troika that celebrates its 20th birthday today.

Shankar Mahadevan

The group was formed in 1996, when the trio came together to create music for a film on Mumbai helmed by artist Imtiaz Dharker, as part of a series commissioned by mid-day. "I was wary of the Hindi music industry of the 1990s. AR Rahman had also not released anything in Hindi then," recalls Noorani, who soon received a call from Mukul Anand for Dus.

Ehsaan Noorani

Though the film remained unfinished after the director passed away, the song, Hindustani, became a youth anthem.

Loy Mendonsa

What followed was Mission Kashmir and then, Dil Chahta Hai (DCH). "A record company said that the DCH album would only sell at Malabar Hill. But it changed the path of Indian film music," recalls Noorani. It also catapulted SEL as the go-to music composers for ace production houses of the decade - Dharma, Yashraj and Excel. Having composed music for over 60 films, and currently, in the middle of making music for Rock On 2, Mirziya and a film with YRF, the trio chats about music, food, travel and everything in between. Over to them.

Q. So, what has kept all of you together over the last 20 years?
A. Shankar Mahadevan (SM): The fact that we are very different as people. Ehsaan is an anxiety-driven guy. Loy is cool and disconnected, while I am hyper-energetic.
Ehsaan Noorani (EN): Yes, he has so much going on! I wonder how he does it. We do have clashes, but we decided to leave behind our ego at home.
Loy Mendonsa (LM): It's also our passion for music that keeps us together.
SM: Our musical preferences are diverse. I listen to Folk and Carnatic music. Ehsaan is into Blues and Loy loves Jazz. Opposites attract. This also sets us apart from the rest. We cover a huge spectrum of music in depth.

Q. Coming to your music, do you believe you set the trend of Electronic Dance Music with DCH?
A. LM: In fact, Hindustani was one of the early pieces of EDM, with a hybrid of brass and other symphonies. We have always used both, live instruments and synthesisers. In DCH, we also used instruments like flute, duff, bongo, slide guitar, harmonica and even a didgeridoo.

Q. Apart from jamming, what do you'll do in the studio?
A. EN: Once Shabana Azmi came to the studio when we were working with Zoya (Akhtar). She saw us and said, ‘Any producer who thinks that all of you are sitting here and seriously creating music is going to be sadly mistaken'.
SM (laughs): We crack up a lot in the studio. We don't take everything too seriously. Also, Ehsaan likes to talk a lot, and on
a vast range of subjects including the Nazis and World War.
LM: Yeah, we discuss everything from physics to science, architecture, design and spirituality too.
EN: You won't believe this; it's so strange, the digit 3 plays an important role in each of our lives. My birthday is on 12th, Loy's is on the 30th and Shankar's is on the 3rd. Both our managers' birthdays also add up to 3.

Q. Do you seek musical inspirations by travelling together?
A. EN: A lot happens in the studio itself. Sometimes, over WhatsApp too (laughs). Like, O Rangrez from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. I sent a tune to Shankar over WhatsApp, he added a vocal note and sent it back. Creativity comes in the strangest of places and times.
SM: But yes, travelling does help in our compositions because you are in a calmer mindset. We've composed so many songs during drives to Khandala, Pune, etc.

Q. So, tell us the one thing about each other that we don't know.
A. EN: Loy is obsessed with trumpets. Shankar is a great sketch artist and cartoonist. And he could easily be a chef...

Q. ...really, Shankar?
A. SM: Yes, it's a passion. I relate cooking to music. You need to choose your ingredients carefully and in the right proportions. Similarly, while composing music, you cannot arrange a vocal note behind a dholak sound. Coming to both of them, let me tell you, the number of guitar riffs that Ehsaan has given with us, even the biggest Rock bands in the world wouldn't have written them. And Loy is so prolific, the best melody comes out the minute he touches the keyboard but it's difficult to get him to reproduce it again.
LM: I can be in the room and be totally disconnected. Sometimes, I play Jazz on the keyboard and they are like, can you at least play the same key that we are recording in? I am such a typical Aquarian!

Q. Where do you see SEL going from here?
A. SM: The glitz and glamour of Bollywood doesn't attract us. We want to work on many collaborations in the non-music space, with genres like Blues, Jazz and semi-classical.
EN: We definitely want to be part of the digital revolution.