Himesh Reshammiya turns 33!

Singer-composer-actor Himesh Reshammiya turns 33 today. Himesh gets candid with Joginder Tuteja and talks of his debut film Aap Ka Surroor.

Himesh, Aap Kaa Surroor is now a qualified hit. Did you see that coming?
I was quite confident since I had vast belief in my fans. They have been with me throughout and I was sure that they would come and watch the film at least once. Now I have been informed that they are giving the film a repeat watch. I am grateful to them and owe my success to them.
I was quite confident since I had vast belief in my fans

Agree. But then can only fans make a film a hit? If that was the case every top composer or singer could have become a hero!
[Smiles] Yes, one cannot deny the fact that overall project should be good as well. I could pull in the audience but for them to say good things about me or the film, the final product has to be impressive. This is where I see Prashant Chaddha succeeding since he made sure that Aap Kaa Surroor was an out and out commercially viable flick. He was able to extract a good performance for me and made sure that the effort didn’t go unnoticed.

But didn’t you ever think before starting work on Aap Kaa Surroor that ‘hey, let me try to do something offbeat so that I am taken seriously as an actor’?
That would have been foolish! When so many careers are at stake with a film, it just doesn’t make sense to try doing something out of the box. There was not even a single thought of making anything art or offbeat. The idea was simple – make a hardcore commercial film which is fast paced and narrated as a thriller. The love element with superhit songs only helped it further.

You seemed confident about the songs from the very start.
Yes, because after being in the industry for number of years now, I understand what kind of music has a potential for the masses. In case of the music of Aap Kaa Surroor, I could see the songs becoming chartbusters. That was quite visible too when the album hit the stands. Since the songs were quite popular even before the release of the film, I was sure that the movie too would take a very good opening. We all saw how both Banaras the film as well as its music suffered at the box office. We couldn’t afford to do that with Aap Kaa Surroor

You didn’t experiment much with the music too.
Ek Baar karke dekh liya tha Banaras mein; sabko maaloom hai album kitni badi flop thi! You have to look at the kind of setup before experimenting. I remember suggesting the producer of Banaras even then to incorporate some commercial elements in the music. We all saw how both movie as well as music suffered at the box office. We couldn’t afford to do that with Aap Kaa Surroor. As you must have noticed, all my songs are ‘raaga’ based. I work hard on molding my compositions based on the parameters of the situations in a film. Banane ko main bana deta ek classy score but fir commercially sab gadbad ho jaati!

Was that the reason why a song like ‘Assalam Walekum’ was more prominent in promotion than far better ‘Tere Bina’? After all the song was the best of the enterprise and it’s placement in the opening credits just perfect.
I agree that ‘Tere Bina’ turned out to be quite pleasant but a song like that can’t be positioned for an album’s kick start. You need to hold a viewer’s attention at the very first go and songs like ‘Assalam Walekum’, ‘Tanhaiyaan’, ‘Tera Mera Milna’, ‘Jhooth Nahi Bolna’ and ‘Mehbooba’ do that job better. Once we saw that each of these songs had made the album a blockbuster, we unveiled ‘Tere Bina’. Something similar was done in the case of Namastey London too where ‘Main Jahan Rahoon’ was the last song to be promoted. We all knew that it was beautiful but songs like ‘Chakna Chakna’ have to be promoted first to attract an audience.

Coming back to the film, could you help laughing when critics were ripping apart your film whereas audience was making it a blockbuster in theaters?
It was amusing, yes, but then I don’t blame the critics at all. First and foremost it wasn’t the case of universal thrashing of the film. 99% of them had something or other good thing to say about the movie or me. There was this remaining 1% which wasn’t with me and the film. But yet again, they were doing their job.
It is not easy for people to accept a composer/singer turning hero in such a manner

What could have been the reason behind these 1% critics not with you?
It is not easy for people to accept a composer/singer turning hero in such a manner. They had their doubts, which is acceptable. But if you observe closely, even they changed their tune once the film was declared a hit in 3 days flat. I am not being immodest; it is just a matter of acceptance and sometimes it comes hard. Nevertheless, I am sure that I will win the hearts of these 1% critics as well. Main unka dil bhi jeet ke rahoonga!

Critic bashing isn’t something new for you anyways, isn’t it so?
[Laughs] Yes, it happened the same way even when the music of Aashiq Banaya Aapne became a rage. It was difficult for some to accept a composer turning into a singer in such a big way. There is a certain point of view that they are entitled to have. Earlier they ridiculed the songs but later when the world accepted them, even they were won over. I got the Filmfare award for the film and it was shocking for some even then. You know, it is just a matter of time to accept something which is unconventional. Main toh kabhi nahi kaha ki meri awaaz unconventional nahi! Ab to maine ye bhi maan liya hai main naak se gaata hoon! But agar mere fans mere saath hain to aur kya chahiye!

Let’s be honest Himesh, somewhere at the back of your mind, you would have had at least 1% apprehension about the film not working?
Arrey, I am a human being yaar. 1% kya, there was a 100% nervous factor. As I said earlier, so many careers were at stake. Howsoever positive vibes the film may have generated, the music may have been superhit and advance booking may have been superb, but then you still wait for that first day first show reaction of the audience. Woh feeling hi kuch aur hoti hai! Moreover it was my Mummy’s birthday on the day of film’s release [29th June] and we didn’t want it to get spoiled if the film didn’t work. I wanted the film to be a birthday gift to her.
Ab to maine ye bhi maan liya hai main naak se gaata hoon! But agar mere fans mere saath hain to aur kya chahiye!

Was she happy with the gift after the first day first show reports were out?
She was overwhelmed. Believe me; it was surreal to be informed that at places the movie was being shown as early as 6’0 clock in the morning. People had stood in the queue for an entire night and the number of people inside the theaters had double of that outside it. When the reactions of the public reached me, I knew we had hit the bull’s eye.

Happy Birthday Himesh!!!