Farhan Akhtar: That song hasn’t left me

Several artistes suggest that they occasionally find themselves leisurely working on projects offered to them only to scramble and wrap up the work at eleventh hour This interview with Farhan Akhtar and ShankarEhsaanLoy appears to proceed no differently Abundant tomfoolery predominates the first 15 minutes mdash it appears as though the quartet is enacting the rough draft of Zindagi Na Milegi DobaraReminded by their publicists that they are running against the clock they seem to recall that they had lsquoseriousrsquo questions prepared for one another as part of this interaction They manage to squeeze some in as Shankar enquires if the boxoffice performance of Farhanrsquos second directorial venture Lakshya was a disappointment The latter in turn probes them about a project that has tested their sensibilitiesThe entire interaction available on our YouTube channel is assuredly worthy of a watch In the meantime these edited excerpts will highlight why this team mdash whose latest work Toofaan releases on Friday mdash always creates the finest films based on friendshipShankar Farhan do you have that 60page script of Dil Chahta haiFarhan I do and just the other day I found these handdrawn storyboards that I had made during the first few weeks of shoot It was special The memories of recording the music are special I remember meeting you all at 4D music studio You all were finalising the music of Mission Kashmir and played the song Dhuan to me Itrsquos such a good songShankar What made you come to SEL for DCHFarhan Breathless had blown my mind I was still writing the script of Dil Chahta Hai then and didnrsquot know what my plans were At the time AR Rahman had become a big name I spoke to pa Javed Akhtar and said Irsquod like to meet him But he said he didnrsquot think our temperaments would match I am the kind of guy who sleeps at 9 am and he wakes up then Also I wanted someone who was hungry like I was I remembered how amazing Breathless was and there were other songs of SEL that I liked Dusrsquo Suno gaur se had also come out then and it all felt rightShankar I remember with Breathless you Zoya Akhtar and Javed ji were sitting in a room and you told me lsquoWe will make this video It will become famous Then wersquoll make big movies and lots of moneyrsquoFarhan Irsquod say anything to get you all onboard Every script has a culture every character a sound That the three of you could understand the process and make it effortless seemed amazing The music in that decade was very different The way you processed it felt rightAlso Read Five times Farhan Akhtar wowed the audience with his unconventional rolesEhsaan I wonder if there is an idea that we didnrsquot useLoy There was one was it a blues songFarhan That song hasnrsquot left me Irsquove put it in the archives or something It is in my head I have never forgotten itShankar Pyaar mein kitna gham haiFarhan Thatrsquos it I will 100 per cent use it in some film We recoded one mukhda and antara for it Pa had also written the lyrics It was for the section which eventually included TanhaayiShankar There were things about the filmrsquos lyrics that bothered youFarhan Yes one was Chamkile din I stand corrected now but when I heard it I told dad it sounded like a detergent commercial Another one was pyar ke ghat jo utarte hai I found the reference oldfashioned But he said like trends words come and go The young generation is reintroduced to some words only through songs Itrsquos a nice way to keep these words alivemidday When tackling a film like Karthik Calling Karthik which isnrsquot generally driven by its music how does the process changeFarhan There are a couple of films like that including Lakshya Itrsquos not one you associate with music because it is about dramatic personal growth In this case it is about how effectively a writer can weave in a song to further the story In films like Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara you can pause the story to include a song But in films like Lakshya you canrsquot because the driving factor for the viewer is the story Such movies are tougher to work on They are easier for the writer So for pa it is easier because he knows where the song is being placed in the film and can write in accordance with that situation But for the composers it is harder Because the music has to become an extension of the scoreShankar Talking about Toofaan the work you have done is commendable Had you learnt boxing beforeFarhan Irsquove never boxed before The closest Irsquove come to boxing is evading punches from Zoya But when you are inspired by a script something happens You donrsquot feel like yoursquore working anymore Itrsquos not about the physicality If I was walking down the street and someone told me to do 50 push upsthat will feel like hard work But if a script like this wakes something up within you you are drawn to itShankar But to sustain that for 18 months must have been tough I remember you would wake up and be at the boxing ring by 630 am Often you would message me from there with ideas about a song Irsquod wonder how this man could do itFarhan Like with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag it came from being so excited and inspired by what was being asked of you Irsquom sure itrsquos the same for you guys If yoursquore in a studio you all keep creating music till it feels amazing Until thatrsquos done you canrsquot sleepShankar Were you disappointed with how Lakshya faredFarhan Yeah but only because it was probably the hardest I had worked for anything We were always taught that if you work hard you will succeed Here we did But I had expected it to do better than it did I was disappointed But on the flip side therersquos a story Irsquod like to share In 2017 I went to Dehradun for a live concert It was the first time I was heading there after the release of Lakshya I told the officials Irsquod love to visit the academy where the film was shot Graciously they organised a visit There were 700 cadets Someone asked me the reason behind making the film And I narrated a story about something that transpired in 2000 I think you SEL were there with my father at an event in 2000 when an army official had told him that there was a shortage of officers entering the army after Kargil The army was praised for how they dealt with the intruders But as a career option for the educated it was vanishing Dad said he would write a filmabout it and that is how Lakshya got made I was telling the cadets this story One major who supervises them said he wanted to show me something He took to the mic and asked the cadets who among them had joined the force on being inspired by Lakshya About 70 per cent raised their hands And that made me realise that we are unfortunately only bothered about boxoffice numbers Here the purpose of making the film was evidently servedFarhan Hadnrsquot you guys composed the title track of the film much earlierShankar I had composed it before I had met Ehsaan and Loy It was for a TV seriesThe difference between working for your production and another one is that we donrsquot need to consult anyone else When we work on music we arrive at many melodies We like some we throw some But if we like an idea we can consult you and it is finalised Itrsquos not like wersquore told lsquoOkay wersquoll come back to yoursquo The process becomes easierLoy Yeah the fact that you take the call on a song speeds up the process by 10 times Thatrsquos the problem in the industry Delays set you back significantlyAlso Read Farhan Akhtar Ode to the boxers who fought against all odds