Music composer ROCHAK KOHlI’s latest song Atrangi Yaari from the film Wazir has already gained popularity. He tells PRAKRITI ROY about getting Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar to sing it and about trends in the music industry

How was it getting Amitabh Bachchan and Farhan Akhtar to sing a duet for your composition Atrangi YaariIJ

I am fortunate to have got this opportunity. This combo has never happened before. The zing that Farhan brings to a song and the emotion and maturity that Mr Bachchan’s voice has, takes this song to an altogether different level.

How did this song happenIJ

Atrangi yaari is a song I had composed as a single for Farhan and Anurag Rao’s Farout Media. The theme of the song was friendship, which was needed for Wazir. lyricists Deepak-Gurpreet only tweaked the lyrics a little to fit in with the context of the film.

Do you have any preferences between film music and singlesIJ

None at all! When you’re tired of one thing, you do the other. Singles give you the leeway to just make the song that you want at that particular time. Working for a film is like a reality check, you take inspiration from the film’s brief. The trend right now is to get big and well-known names to sing for you as it requires a lot of investment by producers. But over the next couple of years, more independent artists will come out with a lot of good music.

Who is your idol in the music industryIJ

Definitely AR Rahman. It was Rahman’s music that made me realise that a song can make me feel emotions, fall in love or hate someone. The 80s music was mostly remixed from the West. It was with the music of films like Roja, Bombay and Dil Se that Rahman started a revolution in Indian music.

What are the upcoming projects you are working onIJ

Quite a few  Yash Raj Films movie Bank Chor; Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay; two films by T-Series; a few singles with Mika, Ayushmann and Arijit Singh and a webseries by Eros.