Vishal Dadlani sings ‘Dhoom’

By Bollywood Hungama -

October 11, 2006 - 12:00 AM IST

Now this one is the mother of all scoops; at least from the musical front! Music of 'Dhoom 2' is slated to arrive on the stands on October 19th and it is not just Bipasha Basu who has rendered her vocals for a song [My Name Is Ali]. There is much more 'dhoom' and 'dhamaka' in the store as it is none other than Vishal Dadlani [of Vishal Shekhar] duo, who has been roped on to croon the title song of the film that has been titled 'Dhoom Again' and written by Asif Ali Baig. Vishal singing for Pritam? Yes, you read it right! Over the man who himself to know more about the song! "Yes, I am have sung the song but how did you get to know about it?", he exclaims with genuine surprise! Well, there are ways to find such information out, especially in the age of internet. "Great! Well yes, but me singing is hardly a scoop, isn't it? After all I have just gone ahead and sung a song for the film. It's not even on the air, I don't know how it will be used in the film and I have absolutely no idea if it is a song in the film or a promotional video or something for a background score", he says rather modestly. But then a composer singing for another does sound rather surprising (though on a pleasant note). After all Vishal-Shekhar, Pritam et al are rivals when it comes to their profession as everyone is doing rather well for themselves in the Bollywood music scene. "Hey, but we all are pretty chilled with each other", he is quick to react, "Agreed that we all had heard a lot of horror stories about cut throat competition and people being indifferent to each other in the industry but thankfully none of us have really experienced anything wrong so far. Honestly speaking, whenever we all have met, whether it is Pritam or Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy or any of the other contemporary composer, there hasn't been an awkward moment. We hang out, have fun!" Great, so coming back to the song. Now how did it actually happen? "It was as simple as that. Adi [Aditya Chopra] called me up and said would you like to sing for this track composed by Pritam. And I was like - wow, why not? See, I may not be a playback singer in conventional terms but I am a part of Pentagram band and have been performing for quite a while. The basic fact is that I enjoy singing and hence have no qualms if someone ropes me in for a particular number. Coming to 'Dhoom Again', believe me I had a lot of fun while doing it. We all know that the song is legendary and one has to give his best for singing a track like this. This time around it is in English. Now it has to be seen how has it been used in the film!", he gives out the details. So, is there anything else happening in his 'singing' career? "Well, since you have asked it I would tell you that I am also singing in 'Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom' that has music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy", he divulges. Hmm, so yet another song for another composer(s). "But then Shankar is a friend and when he asks me for a song I love to do it. By the way, I am also singing for myself (and Shekhar) for 'Tara Rum Pum'. So there you go!" Interesting. Now one of the burning questions is the real story behind Vishal Shekhar bagging Farah Khan's 'Om Shanti Om'. Is there anything further detail apart from what one has read (and seen) already in all media channels [i.e. Rehman being the original composer for OSO and Vishal-Shekhar being roped in at the last moment]? "I will tell you what exactly happened", he bags your attention, "Farah Khan approached us and asked if we would be doing her film. In fact let me correct it. She just said that you guys are doing my film!" Ok, and what happened next? "The obvious question that we had was - Are you serious", Vishal says animatedly, "I mean it was a huge project, Any composer would have loved to have this project in his kitty. Also, we didn't know when do we start? So, it was quite a pleasant surprise." So, how has the progress been? "Till about 2 days back we had 4 songs ready. Just yesterday we have also readied the fifth song after a go-ahead from Farah. For the rest we are currently working on. There are plans for 9-12 songs. Actually it may even get pruned down to 7 songs depending upon the film's duration that Farah closes on." And would he care to tell a little about the feel of the songs, considering 'Om Shanti Om' is based on reincarnation theme? "Hmm, well I can't divulge that right now since we are not supposed to do that now", he chuckles, "but what I can tell about the music is that it is quite script-based and would find a place in the narrative depending upon the situation. Ha ha...beyond that let's talk about it in a few months from now when the film would have made a further headway"! Before wrapping up the call, one can't help but ask a question that looms large over everyone's head - Don't the composer duo feel a bit awkward considering the music was supposed to be given by none other than A.R. Rehman? "Frankly speaking, it's more awkward for us to even think about this", he says in a low tone, "We have utmost respect for Rehman. Now come on, he is up there! And seriously we are the biggest fans of Rehman. Hence we felt inappropriate to get into details of what exactly transpired that lead to us coming in etc. etc. We just didn't ask anything and moreover the project is so thrilling that we just started working on it right away!"