from Tamil Nadu that means trees and it speaks about the importance of forests and conserving the environment . The song is composed by Grammy award winner Ricky Kej , Arivu and Charan and features flautist Rasika Sekhar as well .
We also composed our version of a deeply spiritual Qawwali prayer- “ Naad E Ali ”, that evokes the blessings of Hazrat Ali . It features four singers- Salim , Salman Ali , Vipul Mehta and Raj Pandit .
Another track called “ Jallianwala ”, composed by Shor Police takes listeners on a painful historical journey related to the massacre in 1919 . The powerful vocals of Harshdeep Kaur brings out intense emotions and scars from an event that has had an everlasting impact on the families of those affected as well as our nation at large .
The last song is a breakup song that features a real-life couple Nikhita Gandhi and Shashwat Singh . They ’ re very much a couple but interestingly they agreed to do this .
We wanted to bring Indian folk music together and would have equally loved Uttarakhandi folk , Bengali , Karnataka or Kerala but we could only cover few of the regions . We assure you that for Bhoomi 2022 we will bring in more artists from various regions under one roof .
Having something for almost every region of India ranging from Shia Muslims , to Sathya Sai , or Tamil folk Kaadu is something commendable .
Thank you so much .
Having composed for so many films in short span of time , what are the challenges you face ? When you are solo , you are different and as a team , you sound completely different .
Sulaiman : When we work together , I let Salim do the melody part and I do the rhythm part . But when we are working on a film , the most important thing is to understand the story , the graph of the film and what genre of music will fuse for the film . For example , we can ’ t have a Hip-hop song in a film like Qurbaan . Such a film needs Sufi elements with powerful lyrics that compliments the story and the writing . Understanding the film and the kind of music is very important . Once this is done , the music just flows . Salim sits with the lyrics part , and I do lot of production work and electronic stuff and we bring different elements together . We both have different approach towards the song and we don ’ t fight ( laughs ), but we bring the synergy named “ Salim-Sulaiman ” sound . It is basically what I listen to and what he listens to , completely two different kinds of music that blend beautifully . We have been making music for 25-30 years now and the biggest challenge is to blend the mix flawlessly .
Salim : The dynamics of the industry have changed . There is a lot of pressure on artists in terms of digital reach , engagement , and traction . Additional to this , it ’ s important to also create good music that resonates with the audiences across social media . I , personally , prefer not to fall into that kind of pressure . I always believe that good music is everlasting and will find an audience anyhow . It is important for artists to focus on quality and the rest will take care of itself .
The music scene has undergone change from records , cassettes , CDs and then downloads and pen drives later . Streaming platforms have arrived now . How do you think digitalisation helped music ?
Salim : Change is something that is constant and we have to adapt to how the technology moves . The best part of digitalisation is that music is available to everyone for listening from day one . It does feel great when
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