You came up with a unique concept of making a transgender band ? Where did this concept arise from ? What were the challenges and how did you overcome them ?
The idea of the 6 Pack Band was the brainchild of my close friend at YRF & myself over a cup of coffee . The basic idea was to give them the platform & opportunities which they are usually bereft of over the years through the language we knew best , music . There were many challenges at various stages . Initially , the main challenge that we faced was gaining their trust . They had the natural thought of " why would someone make a band with us & feature us in music videos ?". They started trusting us after multiple meetings & sensing the seriousness & sensitivity with which we were functioning as a team . There were instances where no one turned up for auditions , security personnel not allowing the transgenders to enter some premises , hotels not allowing them to stay on their property & many such hurdles which we had to overcome through the entire journey of curating this wonderful band .
You also created a property called 2.0 which was to promote awareness of Autism through music . In fact , you had so many celebrities join you , how did that come about ?
This was not just for Autism , but for the full spectrum of kids with mental health issues & special needs . It ' s just that the majority of the kids happened to be autistic . The spectrum that was covered with the 6 Pack Band 2.0 members were autism , ADHD , learning disabilities & dyslexia . After the success & global recognition of the 6 Pack Band , we wanted to go a step further . We were toying with this thought of mental health for quite some time & finally decided to go ahead with it . We knew there will be challenges , but by now we were used to having hurdles & overcoming them especially when we believe in our ideas & intentions . As someone has said beautifully " log judte gaye aur karwaan banta gaya ..", we got a lot of support from the industry as we did for the 1st band . Karan Johar himself launched the 6 Pack Band 2.0 with a massive press conference held at YRF . We then had celebs like Tiger Shroff , Rani Mukherji , Mika Singh & many television stars join our journey . All the music videos garnered millions of views & a lot of love from the people . Our song " Sab Rab De Bande ( Isspeshal Mix )" got 22 Million views on YouTube in a single day . The band & I were fortunate to share the screen with Mr Amitabh Bachchan on ‘ Kaun Banega Crorepati ’ for the children ' s day special episode .
What has been your personal preference for Bollywood composing or independent music since you had a number of Bollywood hits ?
Composing is composing . My heart is in composing . I was born to compose what I feel . Each one has its own charm . Film songs give a scale with actors and directors and the penchant of our people who are cinema goers . Independent music has its own advantage as you can compose your heart out without the pressures of a situation in a film .
Independent music is great also because u can decide the genre , the language , the vocalist , and even what you want to say in a song . Am glad that independent music in India is growing and is showing big numbers as was the case in the 90s . I also love nonfilm music cause the artist gets mainstage while in film songs , the composer-lyricist and singer are the only playback and never get the limelight . I am fond of independent music also cause it gives you freedom to experiment and not binds you by the milieu of a feature .
The music scene overall has evolved , how are you keeping up with the pace ?
Shape up or ship out is a mantra in any field of art . We have to keep ourselves abreast of the latest developments in music and artists all across the globe . Irrespective of the evolution , melody stays .
Also , music creation is teamwork . So we have people with complementary skill sets and its great to jam and cocreate sometimes . It does get hard as the pace of change is really rapid . But isn ' t that the case in all industries . One has to keep reinventing and acclimating to newer paradigms .
New generation music has lots of youth , rapping and intense music , Would see you curating something very innovative again ?
Oh yes in fact in one of our projects one plus playback we had already curated songs with the likes of the Divine , Naezy , and more and so we have already dabbled in this happily and in fact , were the first movers in this Way back 6 - 7 years ago , I did a track for a film Bank Chor for YRF films that had some intense Rap - depicting the battle of Mumbai Delhi by Naezy and a rapper from Delhi .
You are now promoting good mental health and learnings from the legends that you have worked with through digital handles , what was the most important learning , and whom did you experience that from ?
Ans I am blessed by the almighty to have worked with the biggest legends in the music industry . Being the only composer of this generation to have recorded with the legends - many of whom are living and many are no more . Working with these legends has taught me the value of the last mile and the distance that only a handful travel from 99 to 100 .
I thought everyone should be privy to this knowledge that I gained in my years of interacting and closely working with the music talent in the big league . The modesty of Lata Mangeshkar and her endeavor to win partner faith , innovations by Asha Bhosle , 360-degree rotational training from Manna De , Importance of daily honing craft from Hariprasad Chaurasia , Observation and passion to learn from Sachin Tendulkar , Team work from Pyarelal of Laxmikant Pyarelal , Time management from orchestra conductors are just a few .
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