‘Recreating a song is challenging’

‘Recreating a song is challenging’

You probably remember Raj Sippy’s 1978 movie Inkaar for its iconic song Tu Mungda Mungda in Usha Mangeshkar’s voice. The peppy song which is sure to get anyone grooving to its beats was recently recreated for the upcoming Bollywood comedy Total Dhamaal. 

Filmed on Sonakshi Sinha, the song has been recorded by Jyotica Tangri, Shaan and Subhro Ganguly. Talking to Jyotica, we find out more about the challenges of recreating this iconic track and the importance of adding a character to the song. 

Jyotica says that when the composers of the song called her, her happiness knew no bounds. “I was called in the studio where I went through the additional lyrics for the original track and I dubbed it. It happened so quickly, I was not sure if it was sheer happiness or excitement that it all happened so quickly,” she says adding that recording the song was an experience in itself for her, and an enriching one too. 

“Mungda has been an iconic song through the ages and when it comes to recreating such a song, you have to understand the fact that many people are emotionally attached to it. So without really removing its originality, you have to add a touch of your personality to it, which is a challenging thing to do,” says Jyotica, because she believes you can either go right or wrong when it comes to recreating a song. The artist is of the opinion that with changing times, there are a certain elements that need to be added to the song if it is being recreated. “As a singer, I believe you cannot totally tamper with the originality of the song, but a little bit of new flavour is harmless; this new flavour is something that people of other generations can enjoy while listening to an iconic song.”  
 
Mungda, which had a rustic Marathi feel to it, was not only limited to the Marathi talking community. “We’ve often heard the saying that music has no boundaries. And it’s true because more than the lyrics which can be in any regional language, people relate to the tune of a song —  if it’s peppy, it stays in the minds of people. For example, when Despacito released, people didn’t even know the meaning of it, nor did they understand the lyrics, but the tempo and the feel of it was so groovy that it stuck,” Jyotica says. 

The singer who has been training in classical music since the age of six, says that singing in another language is one of the few things that she enjoys. “I love learning new stuff because one has to take extra effort to do so, and I believe one simply cannot grow if they don’t learn anything new every now and then,” she says.
 
She believes that this year is going to be super busy for her because she plans on getting out of the studio and performing for her fans. “Other than recording in a studio, where I have literally grown and learnt a lot, this year I have decided that I will also take up a lot of live shows because people love that.”  

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com