Mohit Chauhan relates to strong expressions reflected in his songs. In a freewheeling chat with Karan Bhardwaj, he talks about his struggle, working with Rahman and piracy issues
What we really like about Mohit Chauhan’s discography is that his each track is like a statement of his personality. Be it romance, protest, freedom or hatred, the human elements become even stronger when this Himachali vocalist records them. Tum Se Hi from Jab We Met evoked nostalgia like never before, Sadda Haq exemplified absolute freedom, Khoon Chala bespoke protest...his each song is like an extension of core ideas his music is based upon. Mohit acknowledges our remark humbly and confides that he personally likes music that stands for something. “Music for me is an expression of what I believe in and think. Down the years, it has helped people vent out their sentiments, be it love or hatred. I am fortunate that I have been a part of music that speaks volumes about individualism,” he says, minutes before his heart-touching performance at The liquor Warehouse in Gurgaon.
He says the uniqueness in his music comes from the fact that he grew up reading diverse subjects and remained close to nature. He comes from Himachal Pradesh and read authors like Khalil Gibran or George Bernard Shaw. “One of my uncles was working with Air India and he used to visit foreign countries. He would bring me world music and literature. A lot of relatives who would travel abroad would often come back with books. So I have been an avid reader and music lover since childhood. As a kid, I would spend days hooked to radio, listening to all kinds of music, be it Bollywood, classical, ghazals, western hip hop or rock,” he says.
But he never had any formal training. There was a genuine interest in rhythm and he would sit with friends and compose tracks. Sometimes, he would record those compositions on tape recorder. “Music was a hobby, not a profession,” he recalls. After he finished his higher studies, like any other average guy, he decided to step out of hills and look for a ‘regular job’. “I thought I would join some ad agency in Delhi. I came here and started looking for work. One of my friends who knew of my interest in music asked me to compose music. I was not sure if I would have earned livelihood out of it. But he somehow expressed faith in me. So I began writing and composing jingles,” he shares.
In 1993, he composed his first radio jingle for Basmati rice. That got him his first cheque of over a lakh. “later I composed over 10 jingles anticipating that the company would at least approve three or four of them. luckily, they liked all of them. Suddenly I started making money and I thought I had become rich,” he says. But that initial success didn’t translate into a phenomenon. “It was like hand to mouth existence for some time. But I met Arpit Gupta during the making of these jingles, who played instruments. We started getting together in 1995 and 96. The union led to the formation of our band Silk Route in 1997. In a year, we came up with our first albumBoondein which was a success,” he shares. However, Mohit continued to play in concerts and write jingles for the next few years until Bollywood happened with movie Road, followed by Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh. But the big break came with AR Rahman’s Khoon Chala for Rang De Basanti. Mohit met Rahman in Delhi at a star-studded night. “It was a music award show and every big name from the industry was present. Our band got some four awards which got us attention,” he reminisces.
His association with Rahman grew with time and the milestone came with Rockstar. “It was unique in every sense. Rarely a singer gets to sing all tracks of a movie. I have been fortunate that a major part of my repertoire has been with Rahman sahab. I connect with him because I look for a sacred place to work. And he is full of spirituality, dedication and excellence,” says Mohit, who is now busy composing some new tracks.
“I don’t know how they are going to be used but I am working on a few songs. One of them is very peppy and groovy, something I have never tried before,” he tells us. Though indie music is coming up big time, Mohit is upset that nobody is interested in buying music. “How would music flourishIJ There’s a lot piracy of music. An artist invests his heart and soul and people just download it for free without realising our efforts. How would an artist benefit from thisIJ” he says.