Telly soaps rope in popular Bollywood voices for title tracks

Television shows often rely on dramatic twists and heavy weight names to garner TRPs.
However, of late, prime time TV is using music as a medium to gain popularity. Some consider it recall value while some, audience connect. Production houses are roping in popular music composers and singers to create mesmerising music tracks on their telly shows. The list includes Jeet Ganguli for 'Nagarjun - Ek Yoddha', Javed Ali for 'Jana Na Dil Se Door', Sachin-Jigar for 'Ek Duje Ke Vaaste', Shaan for 'Dehleez' and Suhail Zargar for 'Tamanna' among others.We speak to singers, composers and producers about this growing trend.

Popular voices on TV
The title track for newly-launched show titled 'Jana Na Dil Se Door', which went on air recently, has been composed by Krsna Solo, who has also composed the hit number Banno tera swagger from 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns'. The song is sung by Javed Ali and the Naqaab singer shares, “The uniqueness of singing for television tracks is that you are not bound by factors like ‘who is it picturised on’, ‘will the expressions suit the situation’ etc. You can bring about variations and styles in the song without any hindrance. Also, there is a repeat value as the song will play at least four times in a week.”

Bollywood singer and artiste Shaan and his group Superbia has composed music for telly show 'Dehleez’s title track 'More Jiya'. The singer has earlier composed for 'Tere Shehar Mein' too. Shaan believes that television has the power to create recall value among viewers. He says, “On a road show during the show’s promotions the crowd knew the song and chorus by heart. This is an example of how television popularises music. The recall value on TV is much stronger than that of films as the latter lasts hardly for a month or so.” Is there any difference between singing for films and for television? Singer Jubin Nautiyal, who recently crooned a title track, says, “I don’t think it’s different to sing for TV in any way. Music is music and work is work. Films and television are just different destinations and music is a journey. So for me, the journey matters rather than the destination. If it’s a good song, I would do that irrespective of the platform.”
Javed, on the other hand adds, “A singer’s versatility is put to test on television and I enjoy experimenting with my voice. I have sung Jana Na Dil Se Door straight from my heart and I am happy that audiences are liking it.”

Setting the right note
So, do composers have to tweak or change mandates while composing for a television show? Jeet Ganguly, music composer, shares, “I have taken much more efforts in composing the album for 'Nagarjun- Ek Yoddha', than I have taken for any of the movies till now. Films come and go but television has a longer shelf life. It has a repetitive value. This is my second project on TV and I choose my projects wisely. When I thought about finalising singers for the romantic track for the album, the first names which popped into my mind were Jubin and Palak Muchhal. I decided to take them on board and the track has come out to be soulful.” Content is important for a television show, however production houses believe that music plays an integral part too. It enhances the script and brings out emotions in a sophisticated and natural way. Producer-actor Ajinkya Deo ('Tamanna') is not surprised at the fact that music is finally making its way on Indian television soaps. He says, “Music has always been a part of India’s viewing system. I am happy that it has finally made way to television too. Today, the audience is coming of age and they have warmed up to these tracks. Initially, bands and rude music ruled television. Now, it is a wonderful thing to see music enhancing scripts on television. For 'Tamanna' our brief to the musician was to create wonderful lyrics that would merge well with visuals. We wanted a soulful and soothing track which 'Tu Nazar Chura Rahi Hai' turned out to be.”
On bringing changes in music composition, Shaan adds, “Most of the daily soaps have an emotional value to them. We have to keep that in mind while writing the lyrics and composing the tune. Also, we are catering to a pan-India level, so it can’t just be trend-driven or very urbane.”

Audience connect
Producer Yash Patnaik throws light on what prompts production houses to include music on a large scale on telly soaps. He shares, “Our show talks about the story of a superhero and also the story of a lover. For a superhero, we can show action sequences and use VFX but romance should have a voice to it and what better way to portray romance than a song. Hence, we approached Jeet Gannguli who has composed many romantic tracks for movies such as 'Khamoshiyan', 'Aashiqui 2' and 'Sanam Re'. He has a lot of experience in this industry and has a lot of credibility to his name. In fact our romantic track is used when our protagonist, Arjun and Noorie fall in love on the show.” So, does having a popular composer/singer for the title track help the show garner more attention? Yash adds, “It has definitely helped me in the past with two of my shows. For 'Rang Badalti Odhani', we had roped in Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and for 'Veera', we had Anand Raj Anand on board. It definitely added an extra element to the show as it touched souls and connected with the audience. The idea is to connect with the audience and create a recall value.”
Popular songs on television
'Ek Duje Ke Vaaste' (Title track)
Music composed by Sachin-Jigar
'Ishq Ka Rang Safed' (Title track)
Sung by Rekha Bharadwaj
'Mann Mein Vishwaas Hai' (Title track)
Sung by Indian Idol Junior contestants Moti Khan and Sugandha Date
'The Kapil Sharma Show'
Divya Kumar sang the title track of the music video
'Nagarjun — Ek Yoddha' (Title track)
Music composed by Jeet Ganguli, sung by Jubin Nautiyal
'Jana Na Dil Se Door' (Title track)
Music composed by Krsna Solo, sung by Javed Ali
'Dehleez' (Jiya Re)
Composed by Shaan
'Tamanna'
Sung by Suhail Zargar
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