Srabanti Chakrabarti speaks to upcoming music composer Sachin Gupta of 'Doorie' fame, on his journey into the music industry and his experience so far.
The recent past has witnessed an interesting trend in the Indian music industry — that of young and new music directors joining the bandwagon. While new talent has always been present in the film music industry, never before has there been such a diverse bunch of talented musicians.
Take Sachin Gupta for instance. The young lad from Mumbai who got noticed with the song Doorie saha jaaye na, sung by Atif Aslam, is all set to cement his position in the industry with his upcoming albums and films. "Even today, most people feel that this song has been composed by Atif. But the fact is that I have not only composed the song, but written it as well," says Sachin Gupta.
Sachin is a first-generation musician in his family — his father being a doctor and mother, a home-maker. So, how did the passion for music start? "It is difficult for me to pinpoint when exactly it started, but I can tell you that it started very early. In fact, when I was a kid, I was so keen on learning guitar that my mother gifted me one for my fifth birthday.
My first guitar teacher was one Mr Dias from my school," remembers the music director.
"My inspiration for music is my mother — she would always sing bhajans in the morning," he says. So, would it be right to assume that his childhood and passion for the guitar are big influences on his music? Sachin has an interesting perspective to the whole thing: "I never stick to any particular teacher or follow a specific genre. I feel that if I follow someone very closely and for a long time, I will start behaving and composing like him.
In fact, there have been many instances where I have left things midway just to avoid that," says Sachin. So, who has he been influenced by, even if in bits and pieces? "I adore Pandit Ravi Shankar and A R Rahman. Plus, I have always admired R D Burman's music. When you hear Panchamda's compositions, you come to know about his attitude. I feel each song of his, whether it was a sad one or a romantic number, had an attitude."
Guitar gateway
The interest in guitar during his childhood days crystallised into a full-blown passion for music during Sachin's teenage years. He started performing in various college functions. "There were hardly any college fests where I did not perform. I even performed with fake identity cards for different colleges!" he remembers.
During one of those performances, a band called Mrigya spotted him and asked him to join them. For the next few years, Sachin performed with the band across India and also had a great time performing. But Sachin's real break came when Kumar Taurani of TIPS Music spotted him during a performance in London. "I was performing with the band and like I always do during most of my events, I was acting crazy and performing some histrionics. That caught Taurani's eye and he met me after the function and asked me to create music for him. That's how my association with TIPS started and I feel that was my entry point in the music industry," he explains.
Kumar Taurani was also the man behind Doorie. On the song that helped Sachin get a foothold in the industry, he shares, "One day, Kumar Taurani called me and asked me about my composition and I told him it was done. The reality was that I only had a basic tune in mind. At that time, I was going to Daryaganj. On the way, I heard one man talking to someone on a long-distance phone call saying, 'Kitni doorie hai.' That phrase caught my attention and immediately after, I came back to my car and composed the tune."
Needless to say, when he went to meet Kumar Taurani, he had the tune and lyrics ready. Doorie went on to became a hit not only in India, but abroad as well. After this, Sachin went on to compose for 17 non-film albums for singers like Alisha Chinoy, Mika, Richie Rich and Apache Indian. He has also composed for films like Dil Kabbadi, Prince and Will You Marry Me. His next big break is the Yash Raj Films production Mere Dad Ki Maruti, for which he is composing the music.
Sachin ends the conversation with his take on today's music, "People complain about the fast and peppy numbers ruling the music scenario now.
But come to think of it, you only get a few minutes in the commercials and teasers to promote your songs. So, in that short span, if you have to grab the audience's attention, you have to rely on fast and peppy numbers. Everybody wants instant stuff!"
True, Sachin, but much like instant pain relief, such songs only give one temporary joy!