Amit Trivedi spoke with Komal Nahta and revealed how he became a music composer. He began by saying, “I had done stage musical performances. Later, I worked in advertising for 4-5 years, as well as in television. I wanted to do something in the field of independent music, but working in films was never my aim. Also, mere family mein duur-duur tak films se koi naata nahin tha.”
He said, “While working in the field of advertising, I met Shilpa Rao. She used to sing a lot of ads in the studios regularly. I fell in love with her voice. Also, she was a wonderful person and we became close friends. One day, I expressed my wish of collaborating with her for an album. She agreed. The first song I made in collaboration with her was ‘Dhol Yaara Dhol’ (which later became a part in Dev D; 2009). I wanted to create its music video and then pitch it to MTV or Sony. However, she was very ambitious. She took this and other songs to film directors.”
When remarked that Shilpa Rao struggled on his behalf, Amit Trivedi guffawed and replied, “In a way, you can say that!”
He added, “One fine day, she called me and said, ‘I met Anurag Kashyap sir and I played some stuff. Tu aa ke milega kya?’. I replied, ‘Why are you doing this? We are thinking of a music album and going independent. Yeh film ki chakkar mein kahaan pad rahi hai yaar? This is not my scene’. I was reluctant because I was inherently shy. The film world seemed very overwhelming and intimidating for me. I thought ki main apni choti si duniya mein main theek hoon! But Shilpa threw me into it and that’s how Anurag sir became the first personality whom I met.”
Amit Trivedi continued, “I had some apprehensions, but Anurag sir made me very comfortable. It was the time when Black Friday (2007) had just been released and work was going on for No Smoking (2007). He even showed us No Smoking. For the first time, I saw a raw version of a film without background score or dubbing. However, mujhe woh film dekh ke kuch samaj nahin aaya (laughs). I started wondering what I would tell him if he asked me, ‘Kaisi lagi film’!”
No Smoking starred John Abraham in the lead along with Paresh Rawal and Ranvir Shorey in the supporting cast.
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