Shankar Mahadevan has been a part of the Hindi film industry for three decades. He has played a crucial role in changing the way songs are composed and created. Some of his most memorable films are Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Bunty Aur Babli, Taare Zameen Par, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Salaam-E-Ishq, and Don.

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Mahadevan spoke about his journey and the memories of Kajra Re and Suno Gaur Se Duniyawalon from Dus, a film that never released.

Edited excerpts from the interview

How would you describe your three-decade journey in the industry?

Well, when I look back and I see those, you know, if I refer to my journey as one road, and I see little milestones, you know, the milestones that are there. I see quite a bit of them.

One of the first instances of something going viral happened in 1997- Sune Gaur Se Duniya Walo. It’s a song that became quite popular, unfortunately that film could never release. But what are your memories of shooting that song? The first viral song, if I can say. 

That song had a very strange feeling that we had because it was a bittersweet experience because of Mukul Anand, the director, he passed away. When we composed the song, it was his energy. He said ‘Shankar’, he called me. I remember he was in New York and he didn’t realise what time it was. He called me at 5.30 in the morning. And he said, ‘Shankar, we need a song, a patriotic song, a patriotic song that will play in weddings, in clubs, in sporting events, in the baraat, everywhere this song should play. But it should be a patriotic song representing our country. We need a song like that.’

So, I said, chalo banate hain. And then we made it and he loved the song. But then he passed away. Then we thought, okay, our career is doomed. Jaise matlab pehla kadam rakha hai, it’s gone. But that was the first film ever.

But then, I think his friend Nitin Manmohan, unfortunately he also passed away, he decided to shoot the song like a music video. And we shot it in Juhu, there is a palm group. Ramada Inn. Uske parking lot mein, we rented a stage. The janta that you see is actual janta and then Sanju, Salman, these people, Raveena, all these people, they accepted to come there. And we shot it like a rock concert. And that went crazy. But the icing on the cake was this song became the essence of the Kargil war.

When the Kargil war happened, whenever anything used to happen which is like pro-India or whatever, this song used to play everywhere. And then that’s when we looked up and we thanked Mukul. Mukul, your dream, you see it’s being played everywhere.

You have given so many anthems to the Hindi film industry. Let’s first talk about the romantic anthem, the heartbreak song, the title song of Kal Ho Naa Ho. Did you know that it’s going to be a cult?

No, we didn’t know that it’s going to be a cult song, but we knew that there is something in that song. Kyunki agar aap uski melody dekho, uska kuch hai nahi, chaar note hai. Shabd bhi, the lyrics are h_ar pal yaan, jeevan jeevo, jo hai sama kal ho na ho. Aisa dekha nahi_, simple lyrics.

But if you apply it to your life, it goes beyond the film. It is valid for every single human being on this planet. And as days go by, as the world is becoming more and more complicated, as you see so many things happen, it says boss, tu jeele abhi yaar. Live your life now, you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow. So it’s a song that’s valid forever. We had no idea it’s going to become this big, but we knew that there’s something in this song which is really special.

Your voice suits Amitabh Bachchan a lot because I feel the title song of Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is really one of the best songs that you have composed in your career. Again, very energetic, very thunderous, very beautifully picturised; memories of that?

See, I’ll tell you what, I don’t believe in this thing about a voice suiting a hero or anything like that. Once a song becomes a hit, then everything becomes valid, you know. The most mismatched voice, if you can say, while speaking or singing, is the voice of Shah Rukh Khan versus Sukhwinder Singh. But one of Shahrukh’s biggest hits is Chaiya Chaiya, which is sung by Sukhwinder like unbelievably. It became a super-duper hit, everything falls in place.

So, once it becomes a hit, everything like automatically adjusts. But Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, I agree, and also Kajra Re, it was Amitji’s insistence repeatedly after me telling him that, sir, I have sung it as a guide. Can you dub it with some other voice who tries to imitate your voice or who sounds like you? He said, ‘You’re not touching that song.’