“THE PROCESS WAS ABOUT GROOMING A SINGER TO BECOME A DANCER AND AN ACTOR”: SULAIMAN

Umrao Jaan doesn’t need any introduction. It has been produced in Bollywood twice. The courtesan character is remembered by the aesthetic performances of Bollywood actresses Rekha and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in movie Umrao Jaan in 1981 and 2006 respectively.

It is the first time that Umrao Jan Ada is presented to the audience as a musical. Premiered in Mumbai on May 21, 2019 the musical is currently being performed at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Delhi. Renowned music composer duos Salim Merhant and Sulaiman Merchant who are the producers and composer of the musical, talks about it and the diverse nature of music, in an interview held at Xavier Institute of Communications:

      You both are known to have worked on hundreds of movie scores, soundtracks and even musicals and now Umaro Jan Ada. How different have the process and experience between the try genres?

Sulaiman: There are so many verticals and all come down to one thing which is music. Whether we create a background score for a film, an advertisement for a television commercial or a musical, at the end of the day everything is music. You cannot say that he is a Gujarati or a Marathi at the end we are all Indians. What is interesting is challenging ourselves to create new ways for people to consume music.

Salim: As composers when we go abroad, we listen to musicals and always wonder maybe if we can do a musical, we can do magic to it. We are creating avenues so that we keep contributing to music.

How did the journey of finding the perfect actor went for Umrao Jan Ada since the actor need to know how to sing, dance and act?

Salim: When we decided to make Umrao Jaan Ada I had my eyes on Pratibha. She is a fantastic singer and she understands ghazals which is a big genre in which we were dwelling into. We did still have the audition process and went through it. I knew Pratibha must pull up her socks when it comes to acting and dancing. We want to put an influence of Kathak in our play, but I know it is a musical and singing was a great part of it.

Sulaiman: The process wasn’t about auditioning but the process was about grooming a singer to become a dancer and an actor to be able to deliver dialogues and that was the challenge not finding the girl.

We all know about the demise of the legendary Khayyam Saab and we know you were very close to him. You have worked with him for Umrao Jaan Ada, the musical. Can you please tell me how was your experience working with him and his impact on your entire understanding of music?

Salim: Khayyam Saab means a lot to us because when we were growing up, we started with western music like rock. But our first exposure to film music was Umrao Jaan, Khyyam Saab music. I got attracted to this album. It has the simplicity that makes you start liking it. I met him three months ago and we talked about Umrao Jaan, Kabhi-Kabhi, his relationship with Asha ji and Lata ji and three hours went by quickly. There was so much to talk about, and the most surprising thing was that he remembered everything even at the age of 93.

Which other cities you are planning for the musical?

Salim:  We are planning for Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune.

Over the years your music has shown us how diverse and dynamic it is. How do you make the choice of instruments that would suit the overall feel of the song?

Sulaiman: As soon as you are reading a script you start imagining the color and that’s how 

we start picking instrument and composition. In the modern era there are many different 

instruments you can pick that creates the magic that is required to create a timeless melody. 

For a classical instruments hearing or imagining a song with the instruments is important. 

Thinking that there will be a sitar or a sarangi to add texture and quality to the music is 

important to select a classical instrument.

An affordable box for entertainment and shopping

The sound always makes me curious. It sounds like a manjira playing. Manjira is a pair of small hand cymbals (a concave brass plate that produces brilliant clashing tone). Not on daily basis but sometimes I hear it as I commence my journey from Virar to Marine Lines in the Mumbai suburban local. The sound always comes from the men compartment or the luggage compartment, I have still to figure it out. Nevertheless, after asking 2-3 locals I got to know that there is a group who sings bhajan inside the locals.

The local is a sort of an entertainment unit. Sometimes it can be poetic when you get a window seat with less crowd which is quite rare and look at the greenery that surrounds Mumbai. Most of the times it can be dramatic with people yelling at each other and insisting everyone to push the crowd to make some space for themselves. The locals do offer snacks with varied choices along with the entertainment. It is not like Rs.200 for a popcorn in a movie theater rather its is Rs.20 maximum for a snack from numerous options.

With vendors selling vegetables inside locals, it sometimes become a vegetable market. Missed your earphones at home, you will get that too at Rs.50 inside the locals. Have no time for shopping, get yourself a cotton kurti or a raincoat or even a cleaning cloth for your kitchen. Update your accessories with varied varieties of earrings, necklaces in an affordable price.

The Mumbai suburban local is the common mode of transport for the people of Mumbai. There are three railway lines namely Western line, Harbor Line and Central Line which connects the city. With a bare minimum fare, it is the most affordable mode of transport. The Mumbai Suburban railways operates over 2,300 train services every single day with 7.5 million people using it to commute daily. Air-conditioned trains also run but they are limited in number. The suburban railways provide two types of service namely slow and fast.  The fast locals skip some stations whereas the slow locals halt at all stations. For people looking out for a comfortable journey the locals do offer cushioned seat for first class. Each night the railway lines only fall silent for a brief interval of time.

Travelling in the locals is like going through a cultural diversity. From TikTok to khatron ke Khiladi performances you will get all in here. There is so much learning in the locals like the varied cuss words in Marathi and English. From offering seats to people in need to completely indulging in the phone, ignoring the surroundings, you will see the shades of humans. So next time you are travelling in a local, don’t stuff your ears with the earphones and look out for the stories, the struggle and the life of people around you.