Lalit Pandit: I don’t need complex tunes

The third edition of the web series Panchayat which released on May 28 offered a throwback to rsquo90s music with Thame dil ko a Lalit Panditcomposition that was rendered by Abhijeet Bhattacharya ldquoThe team wanted a melodious song along the lines of the numbers that I have created over the years in films like Yes Boss 1997 They wanted a song that was reminiscent of the melodies of the rsquo90s but one that had a boost of energy It needed to be rhythmic and have happy notesrdquo says Pandit of the track in the Jitendra Kumar and Neena Gupta starrerLalit PanditWell aware that Bhattacharya excels at rendering the kind of number he was set to create Pandit compelled the singer to break his ldquoBollywood hiatusrdquo and return to the mic ldquoWe were happy to be working together again He always takes my projects seriously and rehearses before coming into the studio He has the baritone that is needed for this genre He was worried and told me that he hadnrsquot sung in a long time But I encouraged him to join merdquoAlok Ranjha Jharsquos lyrics says Pandit enabled him to create a composition that he was certain would appeal to listeners In a bid to replicate the sonic quality of the rsquo90s Pandit says the ldquoprogramming and instrumentationrdquo aligned with the flavour of the era ldquoIt has modern beats with a hint of African percussion rhythms After a very long time I used an instrument called the tumba which creates a warm and rhythmic melody While using percussion instruments one can include nuances seamlessly and that is something that a computer program cannot do unless it is designed intricately There are segments of the violin that I have used too and they blend into the rest of the song beautifully Because this was one manrsquos vision the clarity of thought is evidentrdquo he says adding that a composerrsquos ability to create a song that the audience can sing along to is a winning qualityAbhijeet BhattacharyaMusicians of this day and age he believes are creating ldquovery complicated tunesrdquo ldquoMore attention is paid to the production of the song than the composition and writing That is why today the soundtrack of a film has only one or two songs that eventually become popular The rest of the album doesnrsquot work When Jatin and I were working together the entire soundtrack of films like Fanaa 2006 Chalte Chalte 2003 and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge 1995 became popular The desire to create that kind of rich music is missingrdquoReiterating the popular notion that in Bollywood ldquomusic makes the film and the artiste memorable in the long runrdquo Pandit asserts that artistic rights should remain in the hands of creative individuals ldquoI blame the directors They are confused and desperate for good music But they donrsquot know how to introduce that into their film They end up refusing good songs If they feel a composer hasnrsquot worked hard to create a complex number they reject it Then a music director needs to start thinking from the film directorrsquos point of view and it is the latterrsquos choice that is given preference This must changerdquo