30 Years of Khalnayak premiere: Ramesh Taurani reveals how he wooed Subhash Ghai for music rights: “I sent him a 3 feet x 3 feet cake on which I wrote, ‘Saudagar, Tips ke saath sauda kar’”

By Fenil Seta -

September 5, 2023 - 10:37 AM IST

The screening of Khalnayak (1993), arranged by Radio Nasha on the occasion of the film’s 30th anniversary, was a memorable affair. It was graced by Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Ali Asgar, Anand Balraj, director Subhash Ghai, singers Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun, art director Bijon Das Gupta, dialogue writer Kamlesh Pandey and costume designer Neeta Lulla. They entertained the media with their bytes on the radio carpet to RJ Divya Solgama. Inside the auditorium, they spoke to RJ Rohini about the film and a lot more.

30 Years of Khalnayak premiere: Ramesh Taurani reveals how he wooed Subhash Ghai for music rights: “I sent him a 3 feet x 3 feet cake on which I wrote, ‘Saudagar, Tips ke saath sauda kar’”

Ramesh Taurani’s quotes stole the show. He said, “I was behind Subhash ji since Saudagar in 1991. I asked him to give us the rights. But he declined as he had already committed to HMV. He assured he’ll speak to me for future films. Main bhi ekdum young tha. He must be wondering ki yeh kaun hai. Serious hai ya nahin.”

He raised laughs as he said, “When Saudagar’s music was released, I sent him 3 feet x 3 feet cake. I wrote on the cake, ‘Saudagar, Tips ke saath sauda kar’!” He loved it that he called all the distributors of India and told them how this new company is passionate.”

That’s not all. Ramesh further said, “When this cake got ready, I told my office boys to send it to Subhash ji’s house. They called and told me that ‘yeh cake taxi mein fit nahin ho raha’. So, we ordered a tempo!” As expected, it brought the house down.

Ramesh Taurani continued, “Subhash ji invited us to Khalnayak’s premiere and thus, a bond was formed. When Khalnayak was being made, I told him, ‘Khalnayak (ke music rights) toh chahiye kisi bhi haalat mein’. He charged double the market price! We paid the amount as we had full faith in Subhash ji.”

At this, Subhash Ghai admitted that he never thought Ramesh Taurani would agree to the price, “I told Laxmikant ji (of music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal), ‘Mujhe hit music chahiye’. He was confused and asked me, ‘You usually ask me for good songs. Aapka gaana toh hamesha hit hota hai. Then why are you asking for hit songs’?. I explained, ‘Maine aise hi ek price feki aur unhone de di’!”

Ramesh Taurani further narrated, “He told Laxmikant ji, ‘Maine itna paisa liya hai music company se ki mujhe usko justify karna hai’.”

The Tips head honcho also opened up on one more funny anecdote, “When Anand Bakshi ji said that the lines of the song were ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’, Subhash ji ke haath se phone gir gaya!.”

Khalnayak led to the birth of a new partnership between Mukta Arts and Tips. Ramesh Taurani proudly said, “Ever since Khalnayak, all the songs of Subhash ji are with us.”

Although both filmmakers didn’t reveal the price, as per Komal Nahta’s Film Information magazine, Tips paid Rs. 1 crore for the music rights. It also mentioned that Subhash Ghai broke ties with HMV because the music company didn't pay him a single rupee of royalty for his earlier hits Saudagar (1991) and Ram Lakhan (1989) and also didn't provide the statements for the years, 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Also Read: BREAKING: Khalnayak’s special screening to be held in Mumbai on the occasion of its 30th anniversary; Sanjay Dutt, Subhash Ghai and others are expected to attend