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As a company, founded in the year India got Independence, Rajshri Productions is now in its 80th year. Their debut production was Aarti (1962), before which they had only been film distributors. And now, they present their 61st film, due for release on November 27, titled Yeh Prem Mol Liya. Produced by Kamal Kumar Barjatya, Ajit Kumar Barjatya, the late Rajkumar Barjatya and Mahaveer Jain, the film is the eight directorial of Sooraj R. Barjatya, Rajkumar’s son.
The director’s track-record includes his debut film, Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), which was the biggest hit of the entire 1980s and Hum Aapke Hain Koun!… (1994), the biggest hit of the entire 1990s. These were Sooraj R. Barjatya’s first two films and it remains an unbeaten record for any filmmaker to have two of the biggest blockbusters of 20 consecutive years (1980 to 1999).
A music-studded evening for this film, which has also been termed a “Himesh Reshammiya Musical” was held on September 20 at Royal Opera House. Besides the director, and of course Himesh Reshammiya, lead pair Ayushmann Khurrana and Sharvari, the Barjatya seniors, Mahaveer Jain and lyricist Kumaar were also present along with Reshammiya’s wife Sonia Kapoor, who heads their music label, HR Musik.
Said Barjatya, “Thank you all for coming on a Sunday evening. With your love for me and the blessings of my family, today I feel complete. I think that Yeh Prem Mol Liya is the most progressive film I have made.”
He added that the venue was significant as his grandfather, Tarachand Barjatya, who founded the banner, had brought him there to watch Amar Akbar Anthony, with which his love for films began.
A heartwarming anecdote was narrated by Barjatya to explain the Rajshri ethos towards filmmaking. He remembered his grandfather listening to many stories being pitched by writers and telling them, “Super-hit hain! Par mere kaam ki nahin hai (This will be a super-hit but it is not my kind of a story)!” Mystified, he had asked him, “Why should we not make these stories?” And his smiling grandfather took him out of his room to the banner’s emblem of Goddess Saraswati and told him, “Hamare yahaan jo filmein banegi, unnki aisi kahani rahegi jis mein Saraswati ka vaas ho(The films we will make will be those stories in which Goddess Saraswati resides)!”
A director who has recorded and filmed a total of 72 songs in his movies, with 14 in HAHK alone, Sooraj R. Barjatya stated that the closest to a director in any movie was the composer, and that his new film’s entire sur was Reshammiya. Reshammiya had last done Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo in 2015 with the director. “A music directors knows the subject as well as the director,” said Barjatya.
The composer, in an all-black outfit, stated that the arc of the film was “mind- blowing.” He added, “To fit my music seamlessly in it was a big task.” Mentioning that in the earlier eras there was limited singing talent, he opined that today there were “700,000 singers, 300 songs coming out daily, and the challenge was in not to change Sooraj-ji’s vision but also maintain audio value. Fans and audiences expect that blend. I offered 50 to 60 songs, but he was convinced only when he was convinced!”
Terming himself as Barjatya’s “fan boy”, Reshammiya called him “The greatest human being in the industry!”. The film’s music had to be, not like fast food, but like a wholesome thali, added the director, while Reshammiya mentioned that “universal appeal” was the key, though it was a very young film.
Barjatya revealed that in all memorable musicals, a song was choreographed first and then the music was created, adding “For me, the joy of creating three antaras (inner verses of songs) is unforgettable. My films don’t have action, but its place is taken by music.”
Sharvari, asked how it felt to be a Rajshri heroine, gushed that it was incredible. The women in Rajshri’s films felt real and honest, and had grace, dignity and courage, she said. “Yeh Prem Mol Liya was the first film on which sets I called my parents!” she revealed. Raving about the music, she said that no one understood both mass appeal and emotions like Reshammiya today.
Ayushmann Khurrana recollected watching Hum Aapke Hain Koun!… with his full family. Getting in a joke at his own expense, he said that whenever he touched Barjatya’s feet, the director would say, “Ayushmann bhava (May you have a long life)!” Khurrana also remembered that Barjatya always removed his footwear before coming into the actor’s vanity van.
The warmth in the music and the lyrics of the title-song (rendered by Shreya Ghoshal and Nihal Tauro) was all too evident as it played out first as a combined trailer-like visual and later enacted on stage by the lead pair and a chorus of dancers.
Summing up Reshammiya’s incredible track-record, the anchor spoke about the composer having recorded 1300 songs to date. His streams to date were 5.13 billion—ranking him as the global Number Two, next only to Michael Jackson. The composer, praising the lead pair in return, revealed a secret that the film was the love story of a composer. He also persistently referred to a seventh song that he had composed, which was refused by the director who wanted just six songs.
Another song from the film was heard as well, and Reshammiya raved about both the lyrics by Kumaar. Finally, the composer mentioned that while a song is always remembered for the creators, the singers, the stars and even the filmmakers, the unsung heroes were the musicians who executed the creators’ visions. A tribute to all the legendary musicians of Hindi cinema was played by the musicians present.
The music will be the first film soundtrack to be released on the composer’s own label of HR Music, whose managing director was his wife, Sonia Kapoor.
