For years, Abhijit Vaghani has maintained his position as one of the top music producers in the Hindi film and music industry. Abhijit has produced songs for some of the top composers of the industry including Rajesh Roshan, Pritam, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vishal and Sheykhar, Amaal Mallik and Sajid-Wajid. Some of the popular songs produced by him are ‘Go Go Golmaal’ (‘Golmaal 3’), ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’ (Roy’), ‘Sang Hoon Tere’ (‘Jannat 2’), ‘Kamli’ (‘Dhoom 3’), ‘Tu Chahiye’ (‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’), ‘Salaamat’ (‘Sarbjit’), ‘Sau Aasmaan’ (‘Baar Baar Dekho’) and ‘Mon Amour’ (‘Kaabil’).
After lending his expertise as a music producer on several film songs over the years, Abhijit is now keen on exploring the independent music space. Abhijit has already released a couple of tracks independently. ‘Manzoor’, a new song released by him, has a music video featuring Abhijit in the lead. The video, co-directed by Abhijit and Sumit Baruah, also features Aditi Negi. Apart from composing the track, Abhijit has also lent his voice to it. The lyrics have been penned by Bhrigu Parashar.
‘Manzoor’ is a romantic number with a philosophical bent to it. You started making and releasing music independently a while back. We have known you for the work you have done in films. When did you decide to get into this space?
I had earlier released a single called ‘I Will Follow You’. If you see the video, you will realize it has a proper story. As independent artists, I wanted to have a very specific approach to creating music. These days, you see a lot of music videos which just show some party or celebration happening. I was very sure about the fact that whatever videos I put out there will have a proper story. The story could be the kind that people could relate to. Or, the video could be based on one of my bucket list ideas. ‘I Will Follow You’ was about adopting a girl child. Adopting a girl child and seeing her grow up as a parent has been a part of my bucket list. I don’t know how that will happen but I would surely love to do that.
While conceptualizing ‘Manzoor’, we had thought of shooting a video that would have a tourism vibe to it. I thought that we could show myself roaming around the mountains. We started with this concept in mind and then, added a story to it. While creating a story, we thought why would somebody go on a solo trip and enjoy themselves on their own. In the video, the character I play is suffering from a terminal illness. He is somebody who wants to enjoy his life before his treatment starts. It also shows the character falling in love with a girl in Manali.
You have co-directed the video as well.
The story is mine. I also co-directed with Sumit (Baruah). I feel that when you do something independently, a piece of your heart should be there in it.
You did your diploma in sound engineering from the School of Audio Engineering (SAE) in London. How did the course help you as a musician?
It helped me improve my sound in a lot of directions. It made me understand how I need the song to sound. That, in turn, helped my production which is a stage before the engineering process. It also helped me improve my vocabulary of sounds. That’s what I am really grateful for. I did not do any creative studies about music or music production. I wanted to learn the technical side to enhance my crust.
Did you undergo any training in music when you were in school or college?
No, I have had no formal training in music. I always had a natural ear for sound. I had a knowledge of pitches since I was very young. All that helped me while creating music.
Back in the day, there was limited awareness about the people who would arrange or produce a song. Many a time, they would not be credited on the CD either. Now, most labels credit music producers properly. Do you think music producers are finally getting their due and there is more awareness around the work they do?
Absolutely! There was a time when I was struggling to get people to put a credit for the music producer. At a certain point, there were two variants of the same art. There was an arranger and a programmer. I had a tough time combining both of them as a title because people wouldn’t have understood that. Sometimes the producer of a film would ask me, “We are producers. Why are you adding the title of music producer there?” It is a western term, so people here took a while to get used to it. People in the business took a long time to understand what it means. They finally understood that a music producer is different from a producer. He is not somebody putting in the money. These days, songs are greatly driven by the sound and the vibe. Music producers are finally getting their due. They have received a lot of recognition in the last few years as the sound is completely theirs. I am happy they are shining now.
Out of all the songs you have produced so far, which have been your favourites?
‘Kamli’ from ‘Dhoom 3’ is my all-time favourite. ‘Darasal’ from ‘Raabta’ was a heartfelt production. It was a very simple track which I had a great time producing. The title track of ‘Golmaal 3’ will always be special as it proved to be a big break for me and I got a lot of work after that. ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’ (‘Roy’) was one of the first EDM tracks to have come out of our industry. I had a great time working with Amaal (Mallik) on the track.
You have produced several songs for Pritam. How has been the experience of working with him?
It was amazing! He has not changed a bit from the time I have known him. He is accommodating with any experiment that you might want to do. He first wants to see what you want to do. Then, he will ask you to do some changes as per his vision. He gives music producers a lot of liberty.
How do you look at the evolution of music production in India?
Whatever we do, we do for the audience. The attention span of the audience has reduced significantly. There is both an advantage and a disadvantage in it. The disadvantage is loss of musicality and time. The compositions have become very straight. The songs are not as melodious as before. Sometimes, you hear such songs in films. In independent songs, you have to bring in a voice in the first eight seconds and then, the hook should come in the first 30-40 seconds. Your music section cannot be more than four bars. The advantage is that a lot more people are able to do music with this format and experiment with a lot of genres that are coming out in the market. People might not know these genres by name but they dance to them.
In 2016, you had recreated the iconic song ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’ (‘Blackmail’) as ‘Dil Ke Paas’ for the film ‘Wajah Tum Ho’. Arijit was upset about the way his voice was processed and he shared a post regarding the same on Facebook.
That was a misunderstanding. I was not in India at that point. While working on the track, I had to communicate everything to Arijit on the phone. He had very little time. I told him that I will do some modulations to his voice so that it goes well with the track I had envisioned. Once the song released, he had an issue with the change in tune. He told me that during his live performances, he can’t modulate the tune of the original song as the audience will not like it. I told him that he should stick to the original tune while performing in his shows. I told him I had imagined the song in a particular way and that’s why I tweaked the tune a bit. He understood my point and the issue got resolved.
In 2016, you recreated ‘Pyaar Manga Hai’. That was one of the earliest songs you did as a composer. Do you plan to compose for films in the near future?
Yes! Some of my original compositions will be heard in films soon. Last year, I recreated ‘Character Dheela’ as ‘Character Dheela 2.0’ for ‘Shehzaada’. A lot of things are happening but right now, my focus is on exploring myself as an independent musician.
The trend of recreating old songs has only become more prevalent with time. You have recreated several songs in the past. What are your thoughts on this trend?
I feel there are no remixes or recreations now. There are just tracks. When we had CDs and cassettes, we used to title them as remixes. Many such tracks started releasing independently and were more or less like original songs. Out of all the remixes I have done, my favourite is the remix of ‘Tujhe Bhula Diya’ from ‘Anjaana Anjaani’.
What are you doing next?
I plan to release a song every month. To show people what your talent is, you have to be consistent. Whether you get 10 million views or 10 views, you have to keep going. I want to explore a lot of genres through my voice and music.