Sukhwinder Singh: Music-making can’t feel like a contest

Dhanushstarrer Raayan brings Sukhwinder Singh back into AR Rahmanrsquos stable for the song Koi tod na iska Heaping praise on the veteran composerrsquos working methods Singh discusses why Rahman has become a longtime collaborator and how he keeps himself relevant amid an evolving music landscape in Indian cinemaEdited excerpts of the interviewTherersquos a lot of anticipation around this collaboration because yoursquore teaming up with Rahman again What did you two discuss about this number when you metRahman and I discussed working on a few projects and this is the first among them I loved the song when I heard him play it and when he asked me when we could record it I said right away Surprisingly a day after I recorded it the team released it Owing to his ability to complete a task swiftly I call him magic man We have also recorded another song which will release soon Rahman has tremendous knowledge When we first collaborated around the time that he was working on Rangeela 1995 and other Tamil films we knew he had introduced a new kind of music in Indian cinema Back then he had a different style of working While composing for a director he would only play a small bit of a larger composition perhaps only the hook line But when he would get down to recording the song he would add so many elements By the time he was done mixing the number it would seem like an entirely different song I believe he was a live composer because as the vocals would be rendered hersquod add elements to themNow our music directors work in the same way The technique is important but it cannot help you evoke emotions For that you need the kind of energy that only special artistes can produce Few composers can deliver that and I am blessed that I continue to work with them allAR RahmanDo you think therersquos any change in the discussion that south composers are having after Indiarsquos Oscar winIf we keep thinking about creating a song with the hope of winning an award it will become difficult to focus on the art of composition We should not feel like we are part of a contest I believe humme malang hoke gaana chahiye We need to devote ourselves and very few people can do that When I approach a song my first task is to understand the poetry behind it then write it down on paper and then understand the composition I take 15 minutes to comprehend the vision of the director and then deliver the song Also I continue to practice singing so that I am prepared when an opportunity comes my wayAt this stage in your life how do you determine if a song is worth your attentionAround six years ago I had the desire to sing motivational songs and also requested that composers consider me for them Thatrsquos when I got the opportunity to sing songs like Kar har maidan fateh and Zinda hai Tiger Zinda Hai I enjoyed that phase Now I have the desire to sing romantic melodies and dance tracks that have promising lyricism I find that I am being approached for these numbers now In the next six months I will have about 10 film releases and most of the songs belong to these genres However among these I also got the offer to sing a cute song for kids One of my film songs is in Chhota Bheem When I saw the draft of the film I was reminded of a Disney offering which I am fond of I love animation Not only did the picturisation appear to be largerthanlife but it also included music and dance Anupam Kher is brilliant in itI also have a political film in the pipeline called JNU I was told the content is slightly critical but they wanted me to sing a romantic dance track Within every subject there is space for entertainmentWhat is the biggest difference in the musicmaking process that has come to your attention over the yearsMusic today is not like it was 25 years ago While songs would be six minutes in length then now they are merely two minutes long Evoking emotions via a number thatrsquos so short is an art You have to showcase your potential as a singer and also move people This is why I take the effort to email young composers to request that they work with me I want to learn from this erarsquos kids