'Coolie No.1 was a big deal for me personally!' – Raj Pandit

"To have my VOICE in THE TITLE TRACK of an iconic film like COOLIE NO.1 was a BIG DEAL FOR ME PERSONALLY!" - Raj Pandit

Salim of Salim-Sulaiman fame calls him the backbone of SalimSulaiman. Meet the very talented Raj Pandit who started his career as a child prodigy and ended up becoming a music sensation in the Hindi Film Industry.

You were known as a child prodigy and have been singing from the age of 3. Could you describe your musical journey?

Having a musical environment at home, it was very natural for me to be inclined towards music. My mother, Neerja Pandit is a folk singer from Kashmir so from a very young age, I was always around her whenever she would practice. At the age of 4, I first started learning the tabla and my musical foundation was built on Hindustani classical music and rhythm. As I grew older, I would often accompany my mom to her recordings and there I happened to meet Tauseef Akhtar (well-known Ghazal singer/ composer) on one such occasion. He rightly spotted my curiosity for music technology and recommended that I also learn piano and music production. So I did and that opened up a whole new horizon of western classical music for me. Eventually, by the age of 11, I started with the basics of music production and would often record melodies that I composed and would even put together basic tracks for them too. I ended up working on a few Kashmiri folk albums with my mom - all recorded and mixed at my music room to the best of my ability at the time. That gave me the confidence to continue exploring and trying to produce new styles and genres of music.

You are fan of maestro A R Rahman, have you met him? You have also recreated his music…

Who isn’t a fan of ‘A R Rahman’! He’s truly an icon of our country and I’ve been following his music since childhood, like most of us. I’ve met him a couple of times at events, but would love to work with him some day and witness his genius in real-time! Back then as part of my musical practice, I would try and recreate tracks that I liked. I would repeatedly listen to those songs and try to breakdown the musical layers, while reproducing them from scratch. His arrangements have always been pathbreaking, so I would take it up as a challenge. And not just his, I did a few Salim-Sulaiman & Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy songs too. It was a fun way of improving my listening and arrangement skills!

“A R Rahman’s arrangements have always been path-breaking, so I would take it up as a challenge. And not just his, I did a few Salim-Sulaiman & Shankar-EhsaanLoy songs too.”

How did you enter Bollywood?

As soon as I passed out of school, I wanted to make music professionally, along with college. I got the opportunity to work with noted composer/producer Raju Singh. I used to produce background score pieces for him and he guided me through the whole process of making music for two very different mediums like Television and Films. I got to learn a lot about film scoring in those two years under him. Eventually, I landed up at Salim-Sulaiman’s studio and started interning there. One project after another, I was fortunate enough to witness the making of some of the biggest film songs and scores that they composed. Working with them in this past decade has been more than a blessing and I’ve been fortunate enough to have collaborated with the best of the film world - be it singers, lyricists or directors!

“Since I was in the studio, I sang the cue vocal for it and assumed that we would eventually have someone else sing it. But everyone liked my take so much that they decided to go with it.”

You’ve sung for ‘Coolie No. 1’ title track, how did you get this and any anecdotes with Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan or any other experiences that you can share with us?

I was working on the background score of the film along with Salim-Sulaiman. After the whole score was done and finalized, David Dhawanji sent us the opening title sequence, which was an animated back story of Varun’s character. The film’s writer Farhad Samji had written and composed a track for it which he wanted us to produce as part of the score. Since I was in the studio, I sang the cue vocal for it and assumed that we would eventually have someone else sing it. But everyone liked my take so much that they decided to go with it. I was so excited about it, as I’ve grown up on David ji and Govinda’s cinema. To have my voice in the title track of an iconic film like Coolie No. 1 was a big deal for me personally!

“I personally believe that we have a lot of talent in our country to create more original music and the massive rise in independent artists finding a much bigger audience now, is a testament to that.”

You’ve also sung for films like Poorna, Wedding Pullav, Power along with independent projects like Coke Studio and the IPL anthem (2016). Tell us about your experience of singing these songs.

I believe that singing for a film is a very specialized skill as it requires you to be versatile and understand a lot more than just singing a tune right. With all these songs like Poori Qaaynaat, Oh Jaaniya and Oh Saaiyaan, I had such an amazing time as each one required a different style of singing. From semi classical to Qawwali to romance, these songs had it all! Apart from films, singing on Peer Manaawan Challiyaan with the incredible Sukhwinder Singh for Coke Studio India and being the voice of the IPL 2016 anthem was extra special as both these tracks were tied by a common thread - ‘India’. These melodies needed a lot of power and projection and it was great to explore that side of my singing too!

You recently made your debut in the independent music scene with your single “Vibe”… tell us about it?

Independent music has grown exponentially in the last 10 years. We’ve seen some amazing artists make their mark without being dependent on film music and that was really empowering. Having assisted multiple composers and learning so much in all these years, making a foray into independent music felt like a natural progression. That’s how ‘Vibe’ was born! It’s an amalgamation of a lot of my musical influences and I wanted my debut to be a funky RnB dance track. I collaborated with Kunaal Vermaa who wrote the Hindi lyrics and my friend Shazeb Sheikh choreographed and directed the video. I was thrilled to see the incredible response it got! The feeling of putting your own music out there as an artist and receiving so much love for it, is unparalleled. And I hope to continue on this journey of making music that connects with people.

“Even though I haven’t personally faced the brunt of it yet, I’m quite aware of the reality of it. Politics exists in every industry and ours is no different.”

Salim Merchant says you are the backbone of Salim-Sulaiman. Could you tell us about your bond with them?

I’ve been a huge fan of Salim-Sulaiman and their music. I always connected very deeply with their compositions and sound and always wanted to work with them. Soon after I passed out of junior college, I got in touch with them and sent them some of my demo tracks that I had produced. Salim sir liked what I had done and asked me to come to the studio. I entered and felt like I was a child at Disney land! It was so surreal to be in the same room as them and experience the magic being created. My internship started and I just invested all my time and energy at the studio, working and learning. From doing a little additional production on their music to singing my first film song for them, to performing on stage as part of Salim-Sulaiman Live, to coproducing their album Bhoomi 2020 last year, it’s been such an incredible journey full of milestones in the last 10 years. The whole team is like my extended family and I hope the journey continues onwards and upwards!

Any challenges you’ve faced as a singer? …

Thankfully, nothing serious so far. There are days where I just don’t feel like I’m singing well enough or my voice isn’t in the best shape. Or when I’m having a low day emotionally, it becomes challenging more so if I have to sing a happy, dance song. But that’s something that every singer or artist goes through. Sometimes, all it takes to get back in the zone is watching a song or a performance video of Bruno Mars! Over the years, I’ve consciously worked on listening to different artists and imbibing their approach to music. That helps me strive for versatility.

“I’ve worked on the music of a beautiful Netflix film ‘Skater Girl’, composed by Salim-Sulaiman and I’m also currently coproducing their next album Bhoomi 21.”

How do you choose your projects?

So far, I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of some great musical projects - be it as a singer or a producer. I’m very instinctive when it comes to work. If something genuinely excites me, I go ahead and do it without over-thinking it. Music is such a powerful thing that when creativity flows, I just go with it. I believe that I’m not in a position to choose my projects yet. So I’ve learnt to always give it my best and do it with the right intent, no matter what it is.

There are a lot of remixes happening nowadays. Do you think it adds value to the original song? Or it becomes a new song by itself?

…That really depends from song to song. If done well, it can really help an iconic song connect with the newer generation of people. I personally believe that we have a lot of talent in our country to create more original music and the massive rise in independent artists finding a much bigger audience now, is a testament to that. At the end of the day remixing is just a trend like many others and it’ll pass.

What are your thoughts on politics in music?

I’ve been very lucky in that regard, working with not just amazing musicians but also great human beings. Even though I haven’t personally faced the brunt of it yet, I’m quite aware of the reality of it. Politics exists in every industry and ours is no different.

“My parents made sure I was raised very aware of the fact that in spite of this privilege, I’ll have to give it my all to make something of myself.”

You come from a filmi family – your dad Ashok Pandit is a filmmaker, and your mum Neerja is an illustrious folk singer, do you think it was easy to step into the film industry because of this?

Of course it was. It’s a privilege that I acknowledged way back as a child and it has only made me value it a lot more. Having access to the right people is a big advantage and I had to make sure I don’t take it for granted. Also because I saw a lot of examples around who had the same opportunities as me, but they blew it by not being committed enough. My parents made sure I was raised very aware of the fact that in spite of this privilege, I’ll have to give it my all to make something of myself.

What’s next in terms of future projects?

After receiving such a great response to ‘Vibe’, I’m really excited to release more singles in the coming months, including a few interesting collaborations. In terms of film releases, I’ve worked on the music of a beautiful Netflix film ‘Skater Girl’, composed by Salim-Sulaiman and I’m also currently co-producing their next album Bhoomi 21.