Jeet Gangulli: The man behind 6 superhit tracks of Aashiqui 2

By Rajiv Vijayakar -

May 28, 2013 - 12:46 PM IST

Aashiqui 2 has broken all records among films this year, chiefly because of his music - he has composed six of the ten tracks, with two other music makers doing the remaining numbers.

Jeet Gangulli: The man behind 6 superhit tracks of Aashiqui 2

Jeet (real name Chandrajeet) Gannguli, the man behind 'Chahoon Main Ya Naa', 'Hum Mar Jayenge', 'Bhula Dena', 'Aasaan Nahin Yahaan', 'Milne Hai Mujhko Aayi' and 'Piya Aaye Na' is no stranger to success, having scored over 55 Bengali films, all with hit music, in the last decade. However, it was as Jeet-Pritam that he became first known for the music of three films, Tere Liye (2001), Yash Raj Films' Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (2002 / with that cult number 'Sharara Sharara') and Mudda-The Issue (2003). Before that, solo and with Pritam, Jeet had done several ad jingles in Kolkata and Mumbai as also the music for television serials.

From 2004, the two ex-partners went solo and became very big - Jeet in Bengali films and Pritam in Hindi cinema. Why did they split? "We did not see many things the same way," says Jeet with a smile. "Like good friends, we sat and discussed things and decided to work separately. It was a completely amicable split and we are still in touch and keep meeting occasionally at events. Pritam was among the first to congratulate me on the success of Aashiqui 2."

The congratulatory calls have never stopped ringing for the composer. "My parents live in Kolkata and I am the 18th generation in music!" he says. "I left the music release event of Aashiqui 2 early as I had to take a flight to Kolkata and present my parents with the audio CD - something I always do for every music release of mine. My father Kali Ganguly is an accordionist and composer and has even worked in Hindi films. My mother Mina is a sports journalist and has done theater," he says.

His tryst was Mumbai was perhaps ordained. "Anup Jalota once came to Kolkata for a show when I was a guitarist. His guitarist could not come and I was told by a friend to go on the show at the last moment, without any rehearsal. Anup-ji was impressed and came home and told my mother, 'Give me Jeet!' But I was unwilling to leave my parents as I am their only son. However, my mother told me to at least have a try at a career in Mumbai. She said that work was work everywhere and that knowledge in music increases when you try out something new."

When Jeet came to Mumbai in 1996, Jalota helped a lot and even introduced the young man to Ghulam Ali, with whom Jeet went on to do several shows. From here to jingles (which Jeet had also recorded in Kolkata since high school!) and television was the next step. Somewhere along the line, Pritam and he decided to team up. "I first met Pritam in 1998," he remembers.

"I have always thought that a film composer should be exposed to every kind of music," he says. "I first learnt Rabindra Sangeet from my father as a small kid. Musical instruments were always lying in my house so I would start playing whatever I had access to as a kid in terms of height! So I first began with the tabla and the harmonium and as I grew taller, the congo and drums came in!" Jeet's journey as a composer began in an interesting fashion. "I must have been in the sixth standard when I first made a tune, unaware of what I had done! My mother heard it and told my father. She gave me a small tape-recorder and said that henceforth I must record anything I made. My father told me that I had a knack for composing songs and asked me what I wanted to do as a career. I said that I would like to be in music and he asked me to choose one instrument to master. I told him that the accordion was very heavy, so I would like to learn the Spanish guitar. And he took me to his friend Karlton Kitto for training."

Classical music at home, jazz and rock with his teacher and folk, classical and other music in his mother's theater (where he also joined as actor and composer while in school!) were fodder for Jeet in his formative years.

Why did he opt for a career in Bengali films after his split with Pritam? "I have never approached filmmakers here. When we split, Bengali film music was going a dull patch, so much so that people there were listening chiefly to Hindi film music. I thought that maybe Bengali music needed a new colour. My first film Premi became a massive musical hit and I kept doing work there, but from a base here."

Still working on two of the biggest Bengali films being made there, Boss and Rongbaz, Jeet can now boast of a career in Hindi films as well, thanks to Mukesh Bhatt. "My first Hindi film was Morning Walk in 2009, but there was my Bengali song from another film that was the caller-tune of one of Mukesh-ji's friends, a film distributor. When Mukesh called him, he got hooked onto the tune and gave him 25 missed calls just to hear it again and again! Mukesh-ji then contacted me through him and signed me for Blood Money (2012). The song, in its Hindi version, became 'Jo Tere Sang Kaati Raatein'."

Jeet has become a regular with the Bhatts from then on. He also composed the music for all except one song in Raaz 3 and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, no less, signed him for Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi.

"When Mahesh (Bhatt)-ji and Mukesh-ji offered me Aashiqui 2, I was nervous because of the huge musical brand. They boosted my confidence and told me to listen to a narration by their writer Shagufta Rafique. She told me that I must 'feel' the script and come up with tunes from the heart. The pre-climax song 'Bhula Dena Mujhe' was the first song I made and the Bhatts loved it!"

Stating that the Bhatts have a God-gifted ear for melody, he admits that their music has a style independent of the composers. "However, except for 'Bhula Dena Mujhe', none of my songs in the film are in that trademark style. They also gave me a free hand in lyricists and singers here, and I requested them to get me Irshad Kamil, who's done such a fantastic job."

It has been a long while since the young generation has heard direct sentiments in sad songs and a score without any Punjabi or Sufi influences and that also had a major role in the music's success, admits Jeet. "It was the change from the norm. The songs, so to speak, also contained the script. Like 'Chahun Main Ya Naa' fits with the sequence of the hero teaching the heroine to sing better."

Singer Arijit Singh, a music programmer, was his choice as well. "He has a distinctive voice. I had suggested his name after listening to 'Dua', which he had sung in Shanghai. Palak Mucchal was also my choice. And 'Bhula Dena' needed the expertise of Mustafa Zahid, just as 'Chaahat' (Blood Money) had to have Rahat Fateh Ali Khan."

Jeet agrees that novel or new voices are a trend. "Audiences want new voices all the time, and we must give them what they ask for," he sums up. "All I say is that just as Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal have added a lot of hard work to their natural talent, the new singers must come here with that intention and also after learning music."

The composer's special favourite is Ilaiyaraja and he has a special liking for M.M. Kreem and A.R. Rahman. When told that they are all from the South, he smiles and says, "I listen to a lot of music from there, and to these composer's works in Hindi films. I am waiting for the day when I am signed for a South Indian movie!"