Mohit Chauhan: Alright to revisit a song, but I don’t like remixes

Singer Mohit Chauhan has given several hits, but confesses that he is not a fan of remixes. In fact, what irks him the most is when people try to encash the popularity of an old famous song. “It’s alright to genuinely revisit a song, but I don’t like remixes. Bahut sare gaane kharab bhi ho jate hain. Aur jin gaano ko sunke aap bade huye hain, uska naya roop kayi baar achcha hota hai aur bahut baar nahi hota. I don’t think there is any need to make a remix of a song. Bahut sare remix hain mere gaano ke jo itne achche nahi ho paaye. Masakali (Delhi-6; 2009) ka bhi achcha nahi tha toh (AR) Rahman sahab bhi bahut naraaz huye the. To aisa nahi hona chahiye.” says Chauhan who was recently in Delhi to attend a storytelling festival.

Talking about Indian cinema and the north-south divide, the crooner believes that music has no part in it as it has no barriers. “Music, like it’s said, is a universal language. You can listen to a song in Spanish or any south Indian or north eastern language, if the melody touches you then one can feel the emotions. People will make films in their language because they have an audience but music has no language and it’s a powerful medium that can cross any barrier,” adds Chauhan, who is happy to be back on the stage to perform for live audiences.

“For any artiste, the studio is one part where you manufacture your song and put them down. But there is a time when you go out and sing those songs to the people. You expect that those guys are going to sing with you and that can only happen on the stage. This was something that didn’t happen for two and a half years and now that it has sort of opened up, it’s great to be back,” says the former Silk Route vocalist whose songs Dooba Dooba and Boondien are some of the most heard compositions in the indie music scene.

With streaming platforms and social media, indie music seems to be the fastest-growing segment in the music industry. Talking about the indie music scene today, Chauhan adds: “It’s a huge country and humare desh mein bahut sare different flavours hain. So non-flim music ke liye bahut badi jagah hai. Some music companies didn’t push for Indie music once but now they are. Abhi, singles bahut log bana rahe hain. Meri sirf yehi umeed hai ki Hindustan ke different kono se log apna flavour leke aayein aur non-film gaane banaye jayein.”

Take North East, for example, “There is so much talent there,” says Chauhan, sharing, “I was in Sikkim, a while back, where I was jamming with Lepcha musicians. I was singing my song Dooba Dooba with the Lepcha musicians playing their folk instruments and singing in their own language. We performed on the stage and abhi record nahi kia humne. But it’s really amazing to meet great talents and I hope that artistes bring out new music and promote them so that it reaches more people.”

Author tweets @AngelaPaljor

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