Nishaanchi composer Manan Bhardwaj slams musicians expanding their circles: ‘Artistes are corrupting themselves’

Imagine meeting your idol to compose one song for him and ending up scoring nine songs Manan Bhardwaj finds himself in this delightful position with Anurag Kashyaprsquos latest release Nishaanchi His relationship with Kashyap goes way back ldquoHe has been my idolrdquo says a beaming Bhardwaj as he opens up about collaborating with the filmmaker getting closure to his 2009 heartbreak and why he prefers sitting alone in his room and scoring music over networkingExcerpts from the interviewTake me back to the first meeting you had with Kashyap for NishaanchiAround oneandahalf years ago I got a call to compose only one song for the film I had a Zoom call with Anurag sir where he explained what he wanted And today I have composed nine songs for the film Our wavelengths matched Both of us are actionoriented and frank So collaborating became funA still from lsquoNishaanchirsquoWhat was the song that Kashyap called you forIt was Jhule Jhule Paalna But I made Neend Bhi Teri instead The situation for this song was specially added in the film Anurag sir told me lsquoAfter your songs I had to increase the filmrsquos length by 15 minutesrsquoWhatrsquos the most unique part of working with Kashyap whose films are known for their fresh soundscapesAnurag sir told me lsquoManan make songs not for me not for the public but for yourself Make whatever you want to make and let me hear itrsquo I kept giving him songs and he kept putting them into situations The songs and the film go handinhandAlso Anurag sir has been my idol In 2009 I drove from Delhi to Mumbai to meet him We didnrsquot even have Google Maps then When he says lsquoI added scenes because of Mananrsquos songsrsquo itrsquos bigger than any awardWere you able to meet Kashyap during your 2009 visitNo I was told by someone that Anurag sir needed a number of songs for his film and I should come down I took the whole setup with me I went to his office he was not there After that I understood it was a lie So I stayed in Mumbai for a day The next day I promised myself that it will happen somedayThere is a timeless feel to your music which is rare to find nowadays Where do you think Hindi film music stands todayIn the Indian music scene supply is way higher than consumption How many songs can a person listen to I myself hardly listen to one or two contemporary songs otherwise I listen to the songs of Jagjit Singh saab and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan saab Itrsquos our responsibility as composers to make the listeners engage with both old and new music I try to make music that has meaning where the listener is able to relive an emotion that theyrsquove felt in the pastHow do artistes stay true to their voice after success as itrsquos easy to get corrupted in the industry with expectations competition and fear of failureArtistes are corrupting themselves I stay away from all this I visit Mumbai only to meet a few special people and do official meetings I never party here Why do people visit top music directorsrsquo houses for Ganpati So that they can build contacts Those singers havenrsquot understood that contacts will yield nothing Instead if you sit at home and make four songs one of them may become a hit The problem is artistes donrsquot want to work hard instead they call it a struggle Donrsquot you dare call hard work a struggle Artistes are becoming their own enemies mdash they should focus on working hard and moving ahead They shouldnrsquot harbour jealousy nor should they unnecessarily expand their circleNineSongs Bhardwaj has composed in the filmManan Bhardwajrsquos hitslsquoArjan Vaillyrsquo lsquoAnimalrsquolsquoKashmirrsquo lsquoAnimalrsquolsquoAaj Ke Baadrsquo lsquoSatyaprem Ki KatharsquolsquoShiddatrsquo lsquoShiddatrsquo