He wanted the music to literally have a sense of arrogance as well that comes from the character of Balli . So that was very interesting for me and obviously when you go back and you check Hindi cinema , the great and rich history of Hindi cinema , you will see that many films and characters have already done those kinds of paths . They have been walked before .. of being arrogant , of being brash , of being in the face of saying things the way they are . Like when we were doing say , Ji Huzoor , for example , which is Ranbir ’ s intro in the film as Bali , I think that was a very refreshing change for me and doing it I realized that I really enjoyed doing this a lot . And while I am all open to evolution and there ’ s so much more to Hindu filming music today than probably it was 30 , 40 years back , but I still feel that the inclusiveness of Hindi film music should always be maintained .
It ’ s not that we are not open to new avenues , but I think we shouldn ’ t forget who we are . Also , we are very proud of what this culture and what this fraternity has given us in its history and I would like to do more of these kind of things as well . And for me the comfort zone thing comes from there also because Shamshera wasn ’ t apparently my comfort zone but I enjoyed doing it so much that I think that I ’ ve just redefined the meaning of comfort zone . I think whatever you enjoy doing and whatever you have a blast doing is exactly what you are comfortable in . So I would definitely like to do more of that personally . And that ’ s probably what I meant .
Also you had mentioned that in contemporary times there may be a slight shift in the balance between quantity and quality of music . What is quality control when it comes to music ?
I think , once again , quality control is a very inorganic word for me . While I understand what the question is meaning to say , I think the concept of quality control for me in that sense is just honesty , which has not got to do with any changing times . Yes , I definitely feel that today there is a lot more content being put out because I feel that with so many modes of communication and so many different platforms , we have so much music that ’ s coming out , which may be a good thing also . But in many ways I think it ’ s also not a good thing because I think it fills up the space with so much of content . I remember my father has told me that back in the in the 60s they would have the Binaca Geetmala , which would probably be a weekly thing . And they would have ten songs that would play on radio and all of India would listen to them and all of India would know who ’ s made what those ten songs are . They would like some . They would not like some . That ’ s perfectly fine . But they would know that these ten songs are the new songs which have been released . have a negative opinion . I think that we have a lot of good artists in the country today . We have a lot of good music happening , but I think it should be just celebrated more . And I think that the burst of the digital mediums also encourages a lot of mediocrity . So I think people should be more responsible in that sense . Coming back to the question , I think I feel very responsible as an artist .
And I ’ ve always been right from the beginning of my career , if I do not connect to a particular film , or if I do not even connect to a song , or if I feel that it ’ s not what it should be , I have taken the decision to pull it back . There have been certain films where I myself and my director have taken a decision together to replace the song at the last minute because we feel that maybe it is not fitting into the story that well . So I think these kind of responsible decisions are very much needed . I think every artist who can take these kind of calls should definitely do it . And yeah , ultimately it all comes down about being true to yourself . Right ? We ’ d be doing this hard because we enjoy doing this and because we love it so much . So whatever we care for , whatever we nurture and we put out , I think that ’ s the ultimate responsibility that each artist has . That ’ s it .
They would know who the actors are . They would know who the composer is . They would know who the lyricist is . I think Ameen Sayani and other anchors would specifically mention who ’ s composed the song , who ’ s written the song and who sung the song . And I think that ’ s why there was such a strong connect between the artists and their styles of their specific work . They all had their own zones and every listener knew the zone of each artist . I think there was such a beautiful thing . And I feel today also good music is happening . I don ’ t
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