Anu Malik: I'm still struggling as a music composer

Anu Malik has spent over three decades in the film industry, but he refuses to be called a veteran composer as he doesn't 'believe in such tags'. The composer, who is reuniting with Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam to judge the upcoming season of the singing reality show Indian Idol, was in Delhi recently for the show's auditions. We caught up with him as he spoke about new composers recycling old songs in their films, what he wants to learn from today's youths and how true are the promises made by judges to contestants on reality shows.
Over the last one year, we have seen a fad of old retro hits being recycled as singles for movie soundtracks.
It only goes to show the quality of the songs produced by the past masters. You have got to give it to the masters. These songs are so technically sound and so melodious that even listeners of today relate to them. For composers, it's easy. Aadhi dhun toh readymade hai, popular hai. Saves time for them rather than starting from scratch, which always takes more effort.
So does that imply that the young composers of today are lazier in their approach?
No. In fact, today's youth is very talented, but they are also smart. They know where to save time. I believe in staying and moving with times. I hate ' no that's a strong word, rather, I'm amused by people saying 'hamara kya zamana tha, hum kya thay'. I don't understand all that. When I was starting out as a teenager, my idols ' the established composers of the time, they must have said, 'Yeh kaun hai? What sort of music is this?' All that is natural. The older generation always resists change. But I love the youth and I will credit that to my two daughters. When you have kids aged 23 and 21 at home, you get connected to the youth. You adopt their tech-savviness and their taste in music as well. I want to be like them in many ways.
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In what ways?
When you talk about this new generation ' the youth ' I love the change in sound they have brought and I love their energy. Those are nice qualities to imbibe. One should always be open to learning from everyone, even people who troll you or criticise you for that matter.
You are returning as the judge on Indian Idol. We have seen that judges on reality shows often make promises to contestants saying, 'main tujhe break doonga'. Do these promises ever materialise?
I can't vouch for what others do, but I can only give my own example. I promised a finalist of Indian Idol several years ago that I would give her a song. As it so happened that seven years later, I had a song where her voice was the perfect fit. I asked her to sing it and that song won her the National Award. That girl was Monali Thakur. Promises that are made on reality shows are often fulfilled, but not always overnight. Even composers need to find the right song for the singer.
So with all that going for them, what is the reason that many reality show winners from India haven't made it big in the music industry?
It's to do with the effort. I wouldn't say there is any complacency, but you can't rest on your laurels. The singers also need to understand that once you get the recognition on some platform, it is not the end. It is only the beginning. The struggle does not end there. In fact, I'm still struggling. When I started, I was struggling against lions of music like Laxmikant-Pyarelal and RD Burman. Today, I'm again struggling against a new wave of composers, all of whom are doing quite well for themselves. So reality show winners have to continue struggling too.
Listen to the songs of Anu Malik on gaana.com