The long gap broke in Mumbai’s Swaralata Studios on May 26 this year when music director and lyricist Mrinal Bandopadhyay convinced her to sing for a Bangla film. “The idea of asking the great legend to sing to my composition did not even occur to me, as I had felt it was impossible. But my producer and director kept persuading me to try just once and see if I could do the ‘undoable’.

And it has actually happened,” informs Mrinal. The studio was teeming with crowds, including members of the media and noted playback artistes Shreya Ghoshal and Udit Narayan. The attraction was to see Lataji come out of her self – imposed seclusion and enter the studios to sing a song. The heartbreak that was consequent when she withdrew from singing playback was finally at peace.

Lataji has been singing to music composed by Bandopadhyay since 1981. The first song under his musical baton was Monomoyuri roynaa mone for the film Sukher Kacchey. This time, she lent her historic voice for Amaar Bhalolaga, Amar Bhalobasha starring Rituparna Sengupta, Firdaus and Amitabha Bhattacharya and produced under the banner of Rekha Films by young producer Saibal Chakraborty.

Chanchal Chakraborty is directing the film. “I loved the song the minute I heard it. It brought back sweet memories of the old songs I sang for Bengali films many years ago. This song is similar to the ones that made me known in Bengal, with music by Mrinalsaab,” said Lata to the media. Then, she turned to Mrinal Bandopadhyay and said, “Give music like this and I will keep on singing.”

The last time Lataji sang a Bengali number with the music scored by Mrinal Bandopadhyay was in 1992 and Mrinal has managed to persuade her to sing for five Bengali songs. Among these, the most popular was Poth boley dao maago from the film Tumi Kato Sundar. Mrinal Bandopadhyay began the struggle to reach out and persuade the singer from February this year. Discussions had to stop because the singer was scheduled to undergo knee replacement surgery. Later, she asked Bandopadhyay to sing the song for her and when she liked it very much, she asked him to send a cassette. She then set the date of May 27 but preponed it by one day.

Mayuresh Pai, the owner of Swaralata Studio said that Lata came a month before the scheduled recording date to do a voice test. There was a tiny error during the recording. With the modern technology that is now in use, it is possible to correct this error later. But Lata refused to budge. “I will not get into the mood again,” she said and asked for a second take for the entire song. She asked again and again whether her enunciation of the Bengali lyrics was right or not.”

“Bahut aasaan gaana tha. Sur mein badi mithaas thi” said the singer. Enthused by her positive response, Bandopadhyay sang the song and strung the guitar himself and sent the cassette to her. Uttam Singh arranged the song. Then sister Usha sang the whole song in Mumbai and hearing the final song, she agreed to record it,” says an excited Bandopadhyay, adding, “Once she agreed to sing, Lataji rehearsed for one full month, asked a complete explanation of the situation the song was to be picturised on screen and asked for repeated clarifications on the minutest details of pronouncing Bangla words.

She spent around three – and – a – half hours inside the studio accompanied by Usha who is her constant companion. Even at eighty, she did not fail to call up when the music director was mixing the song on May 28. “Dada, how does the song sound after the mixing?” she asked. Such is her passion for perfection despite the dizzying heights of glory, fame and excellence she has already attained. “Keep writing songs like this, create tunes like this and I will sing again,” was her parting shot. After all, the world has only one Lata Mangeshkar and now we know why.

Producer Prabhu of Sivaji Productions and Ajith are currently scouting for locations abroad, some place where there is no restriction on shooting for films. Because, many countries are currently wary of letting in tourists to their country because of the global swine-flu phenomenon. Music for Asal is by Bharadwaj and the Saran-Vairamuthu-Bharadwaj trio, has created magic on several occasions, and we only hope that they don’t disappoint this time. Sameera Reddy will play the female lead opposite Ajith. There has been no word or confirmation on this by the producers, however Ajith fans would definitely like to see their ‘Thala’ romance two women at a time!

With almost 2 years gone in the making of the film, there are a lot of expectations from director Selvaraghavan. The film has Karthi and Reema Sen in lead roles, with Parthiban and Andrea in the supporting cast.

She was so absorbed in her world and life that outer appearances, even those of her son, didn’t seem to disturb her. It was the sudden death of her son that made her realise that there was more to him than just a rise of young blood; there was an ideology and movement that her son was a part of something she had never realised was real until it came in front of her by way of getting to understand him and the reasons for his death better. What attracts me to the film is the portrayal of human emotions and relations in a life strained from inside but still living upto the expectations of a make-believe existence from outside.

When the mother finally finds out the reasons for her son’s actions and the story behind his death, she sees through the farce that the people around her are living in. She sees through the rotten outwardly appearances that make her cry out and burst with a sorrow and grief that pierces everyone’s heart. She realises that people are so self-centered and self-involved that they will never understand what her son actually died for; what belief he held close to him through his death. His martyrdom was just seen as a shame brought unto the family, his involvement in the movement was seen as an act of terrorism, his beliefs were misunderstood and his rebelliousness was seen as just the boil of youth and young blood.

The film traces the passage of time, a movement from ‘then’ to ‘now’; it shows that with the passing of years, things do change, but the suppression and the deaths never do. What we see is the awareness that has come about. Murders still take place in the ‘now’ scenario, but now the mother doesn’t just let it pass, she tries to bring her son’s murderer to justice, all alone, till people around her come to her aid and help her in catching him. And suddenly, with the whiff of change and far better understanding, the mother feels much closer to her lost son than she had ever been before.

There is also another overlapping timeline that we see in the film; it’s the movement between past and present. As the mother takes on the task of unravelling her son’s death and understanding the cause of his actions and threads of his hidden life, we see a constant movement between the past and the present. The past is the world that is unravelling before us so that we as the audience can understand the son, his mother, their relation, his love interest, his movement, his passion for the cause, and finally, his death. What interests me the most about the film is its title, ‘Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa’ (Mother of 1,048). 1,048 is the number that is given to her son’s body in the morgue where he is brought by the police after his death; a number which makes his mother realise that her son is now not just a name, but a part of a numerical sequence.

Subhash Ghai in response said, “ We are dealing with Times Music for the first time with full faith and confidence and both of us are planning a unique strategy for marketing the music of the film by sending a right dose of paid TV promos just before the release of the film. Producers usually go overboard spending so much money in competition on paid TV promos without realizing the old known truth that only products work- aggressive marketing can irritate the audience- showing too much of visuals on TV diminishes the charm of the song on the big screen. I am fully confident of the film Paying Guest to be a big block buster as well as its music by Sajid Wajid”.

‘Paying Guest’ revolves around four young fun loving boys, begin on a crazy house hunt which takes them through a series of ultra comical hurdles in a bid to find that one roof that can tolerate and shelter their combined problems. However, their quest for the roof takes a different toll when they come across a crazy landlord Ballu & his hilarious wife played by Johny Lever & Delnaaz Paul, who has a condition that they will rent their house only to married couple. This triggers a series of confusions that builds into the rich complexities of mistaken identities and a climax of comic wizardries. ‘Paying Guest’ stars Shreyas Talpade, Aashish Choudhary, Jaaved Jafferi and Vatsal Sheth , Celina Jaitly, Neha Dhupia, Riya Sen, Sayali Bhagat, Chunky Pandey, Asrani and Paintal. The music has been scored by Sajid Wajid . This laugh riot is written & directed by Paritosh Painter, with cinematographer P Selva Kumar.

Ahmed Khan, who choreographed the promotional track said, “The song was shot on the terrace of a skyscraper. Neil had a tough time doing the shoot as he was required to jump on the trampoline and bounce at a height of 10-12 feet. Despite his problem, Neil went about it without a murmur. However, the next day, his vertigo problem went from bad to worse. Looking at his condition, we all worked towards finishing the shoot earlier and thankfully we were able to wrap up the shoot within two days and one night. The best part is that we made no compromise in the shoot. However, the shoot will be most memorable for Neil, who went through a tough time.” New York is directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Yash Raj Films.

For two years in succession, you have clinched both the Best Music and Best Background Music Screen trophies. What do you have to say about this unique achievement?

Mani Ratnam’s Lajjo, Shyam Benegal’s Chamki and Krishna Shah’s Baiju and one or two other musicals were wonderful subjects that inspired me then – and none of them even took off! On the other hand, Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na that got me your Best Music trophy this year was almost shelved – till Aamir Khan took over its production.

Last year, a lot of my films came all together – Jaane Tu…, Jodhaa Akbar, Yuvvraaj, the music of Ada, Ghajini and then Slumdog Millionaire. So I have stopped expecting anything in life. If good things happen, it’s okay, but if they don’t, at least you are not frustrated! (Laughs).

Do two background music trophies indicate that the background score is gaining more importance nowadays?
Background music is something that needs ten times more energy than making songs. You can do songs for four more films in the time you take for composing a background music score for just one movie!

In the West, they are amazed that in Indian films the same person composes both the songs and the background score. But over here, whether it was Naushadsaab in Hindi films, Ilayaraja down here or most other composers, we have had this tradition almost as a culture. Speaking for myself, I like to do both and it is about my credibility and sometimes when I get both right, it is a great high for me!

Why do you use the word “sometimes”? Why are you so modest, almost Bachchan-esquely so, in your statements?
I have so much to learn and so much to achieve. And things can go wrong despite hard work so often. You can’t orchestrate results and the magic just happens sometimes. When it does, every aspect of the film and the music blends together, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally!

Gulzarsaab tells us that you light a candle when your singer enters the recording cabin. Have you always done this?
I began to do it after my first visit to Khwaja Gharib Nawaz at Ajmer Sharif. The candles lit there have an effect I cannot describe. In my studio too, it is so inspirational and organic amidst all the electronic gadgets.

And coming to Slumdog Millionaire, a cliché that you will have to answer again for us, Did you expect the film and your songs to reach where they have?
No way! (Laughs). But yes, I loved the film when I watched it. All I was thinking about is that I wanted to work with a filmmaker as loved and respected as Danny Boyle. There was something strangely positive about the film – I remember feeling inexplicably relieved at the end of the movie.

So you worked on the music after the film was complete.
Yes and after putting in the songs Danny re-cut the film.

How did you get the idea of working with M.I.A.?
I find her an extraordinary artiste who makes political statements with her music. Some years back, she had come down to record her music at my studio because she needed some specific kind of percussion and had expressed a wish to work with me then because she liked the energy in my music. At that time, I was busy. But when this opportunity arose, I naturally took it.

How do you react to Indians slamming Jai ho as nowhere compared to your best songs, even though its versions abroad have rocked charts too?
Well, I had to make something that was right for the film. It wasn’t a situation that demanded a Beethoven’s Symphony or a Ba-ba black sheep!

Composing for films is not about showing the world what you can do. You have to get something right first and then try and excel in it. The reverse way would be disastrous.

The other criticism is that you have reworked Choli ke peeche from Khal-Nayak as Ringa ringa. But despite the story you gave to a section of the press, it just had a similar flavour.
I was misquoted in that story – I never said that I was remixing the song. I only said that I was influenced by that song as the most important anthem of the 1990s, which is the era being shown when Ringa ringa is playing in the film.

That was the reason why I chose not to compose a completely diverse song for this situation and also why I took the same singers – Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun. It was my ode to Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Subhash Ghai and the song’s team.

And what were your first thoughts when you won first one trophy and then another – and we do not mean the words you spoke at the Oscar ceremony where you also have to keep in mind the audience?
I was extremely happy that my mother, my wife and my sister Ishrat, who is a singer, were all there with me.

Such occasions are less about personal happiness and more about what precious people around you, especially your family and friends, feel.

My first thought when the first award was announced was nothing – my mind went blank since I was due to sing in some 20 seconds! (Laughs) When the second award was declared, I just wanted to take the trophy, go into my room and sleep!! (Laughs again). The one week of anticipation, rehearsals and tensions all dissolved into that!

And what do you feel – sorry again for the clichéd query – about being the first Indian to clinch two Oscars?
I can’t gauge anything now – maybe I will know after a couple of years. Let’s see what good things come out of it.

A lot of new composers have come in of late. Have any of them impressed you?
I like their spirit and also their desire to experiment. At the same time, however, I miss excellent melodies and life- changing lyrics in today’s music and I am looking forward to hearing some of those. Lyrics, for example, should be much more than about Soniye and Maahiya! The new music directors must also realise that it is a team that consolidates your work – you need a director who understands you.

Ismail Darbar got one in Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy in Farhan Akhtar. A composer cannot be like an island. The director has a huge hand in decisions about both creativity and also dignity – dignity about what you should and should not do, about a mission for reviving something good and other firm convictions.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be playing the character of Sita and hubby Abhishek Bachchan will play the character of Ram and Govinda will play the role of Hanuman. In real life, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is quite a good singer but not good enough to sing classical songs. For her role, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wants to sing all the songs by herself. She will take lessons from a guru.