Bollywood and the Independent Music scene has undergone changes for the past three decades with many young musicians making their mettle with respect to sound , bringing out fusion of interesting genres and of course- amazing presentation of background scores .
Salim and Sulaiman are known for their incredible work over the years and are known to be one of the most successful and accomplished composers and producers in the Indian Music Industry . They have made a mark in both film music and also in the independent music scene .
This composer duo have a very unique sound and the ease with which they straddle different genres and styles across Bollywood and the Independent music scene has seen them scale great heights . We know them for their blockbuster films such as Chak De India , Band Bajaa Baraat , Fashion , Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi , Krish 3 and many more .
They are all set to release their new independent music album “ Bhoomi 2021 ” and we were honoured to have a chat with them about it .
Bhoomi 2021 is coming up with 25 artists performing and connects musicians from all across the country for 22 years over various genres . Please tell us about this project and how it has taken off
Salim : During our extensive travel across Africa , Ireland , and Spain , we had the pleasure to listen to and explore many regional flavours of folk music . We all know that India is a land renowned for its rich classical music but folk music wasn ’ t getting the recognition that it deserved . This is when we thought of doing a contemporary folk album with a poprock flavour by bringing together top notch artists from across the length and breadth of India .
This project is a collective representation of our rich culture , history , tradition and musical art forms . It ’ s a small sample size that we vow to continuously explore deeply and bring to audiences in a fresh avatar with each passing year .
BHOOMI 2021 is going to be quite big with songs from Tamil Nadu , Assam , a hardcore Punjabi song and a Rajasthani folk song collaborated with Vishal Dadlani based on a 300-year-old Bandhish from the time of Mughals . There is a song on the historic event of Jallianwalla Bagh , done by Clinton Cerejo as well .
Could you elaborate a bit more on the different collaborators on this project ? We are also curious to know how did you approach the project at a tough time like this .
BBringing together this project was challenging given that we now live in a digital , post pandemic era and to bring together all the equipment in-house was a task considering we are used to working in our usual comfortable space of our studio .
Of course , we had the technology at our disposal to bring this project live but we also needed to go an extra mile to master the available technology to ensure that we achieved the highest levels of quality . It turned out to be a journey in great self-discovery as well along the way , as we put Bhoomi 2021 together .
Another challenge was to balance work from home and work in the studio . We had to work more intensely in the studio than usual to ensure we got the best out of each working hour there . But , that ’ s the beauty of doing work that you love .
The first track to be released is a collaboration with Vishal Dadlani . This is a contemporary take on an old bandish from the Mughal Era . The song is originally composed by Sadarang in the raag Bhimpalasi called “ Ja Ja Re ”. It is the first song which every classical singer learns when they start their journey .
The composition is truly beautiful that revolves around a young bride who tells her husband how she feels about being careful with her motherin-law and sister-in-law watching over the newly married couple at home .
The third song is a bidaayi , ( farewell to her parents home ) a song when the bride leaves the parents house after her wedding , a traditional Punjabi song sung by the amazing Sukhwinder Singh .
The fourth song is an Assamese song composed by Anurag Saikia called ‘ Kasiyoli ’, which means ‘ Ray of Light ’, a magical fusion of modern progressive rock sung by Vivek Hariharan fused with Tai Ahom chants sung by Ahom folk singer Jutimala Buragohain in Tai Ahom language . The fifth song ‘ Barbad ’ is a power ballad having shades of hip-hop sung by Raftaar and Afsana Khan .
The next song is a Sai Bhajan composed by the students of Sathya Sai Baba and will be released on the eve of his birthday . Kaadu is a song from Tamil Nadu that means trees and it speaks about the importance
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