T-series director Bhushan Kumar tells Sakshi Sharma that through social media, the penetration of music is so huge that it makes waves even if the film doesn’t appeal
I could see how distracted Bhushan Kumar was with his phone which kept buzzing with numerous calls. He said, signalling towards the phone calls, “See, we are everybody’s priority not only in terms of music but also films. We have got a great bouquet of films now.”
The one thing he always wanted to achieve was his father Gulshan Kumar’s dream of spreading the wings of music worldwide and making T-series a music company which Bhushan proudly feels he has “accomplished.” He is proud of the fact that he has achieved good value for his brand, even after taking over the company in tragic circumstances after his father’s demise in 1997.
The brand has recently co-produced, Batla House, an action and thriller film starring John Abraham and Mrunal Thakur. Bhushan feels that it is not easy to put songs that go with the narrative of the film especially in a thriller like this one. It is important for the company to insert songs that take the story of the film forward and not put in merely for the sake of it. Bhushan said, “We shot five songs but removed two because it was holding the story back.” Giving examples about the hit songs of the film, Rula Diya and O Saki Saki, he said, “I am happy with the way these songs sync with the script.” But people don’t enjoy such songs at a party or at home so he feels that as a music company, “we have to keep that too in mind.”
The concept of musical remakes have always been a point of debate and controversy. In the film Batla house, the song, O Saki Saki, performed by Nora Fatehi, is a remake from the film Musafir (2004). Though Nora is getting praises from all over for her moves and performance but Koena Mitra, the actress who featured in the original version of the song did not find it good and tweeted that “it’s a mess.” Bhushan said, “People have the freedom to voice their thoughts but I am not bothered because I am making songs for the people and majority of them are loving it. The day they will stop giving me revenue, I’ll stop making them. Moreover, they are my songs and I have the liberty to do whatever I want to with them.”
Good music is something that can be rejoiced upon even after ages. Bhushan believed that old songs, from the 80s and 90s, have a different charm altogether and it’s because nobody could have come up with a sound back then, which would have worked today except for romantic tracks. He said, “With the changing preferences, you have to reinvent the tracks because people want to listen to the song in a new beat with new singers today. Everyone has their wishlist and I cater to a majority of them.” That is the reason all his 30 re-creations have worked till date and have been major hits.
The way Indian music industry has functioned has changed over the time. It has evolved gradually from cassettes and CDs to the digital means, which has conquered the markets. The digital space has paved a way not only for the mainstream languages but for the regional ones too. Bhushan said, “We need to cater to all our languages. That is why we produce songs in Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Bengali, etc. All of this matters a lot in bringing us where we are today.” The music company grabbed the opportunity during the transformation stages of music and catered to all the spaces where people looked for entertainment. He said, “It is a good platform that we are witnessing today. It is so convenient that music can travel across within minutes. I know so many actors, composers, lyricist who are getting the opportunity to showcase their talent on the web and are gaining appreciation. Many producers are into web series instead of films now. I hope digital stays forever and people continue to make a livelihood from it.”
There are hits like Kala Chashma and Tukur Tukur, which have compelled one to groove to their beats but the films, Baar Baar Dekho and Dilwaale did not do that well. What is it about the films that don’t perform well onscreen but their music makes waves? “Because of social media, the penetration of music is so huge that even if the film doesn’t appeal to the consumer, its music does. One of the examples is my own film, Roy, which was flopped big time but I got all the awards for its music,” explained he.
Going back into the time he set up his business, he said his love for music is an inheritance from his father. “Initially, I did not realise it but the way I was running the business at a young age made it evident.”
