Madhur Bhandarkar's much awaited film hits yet another roadblock before going on floors; co-producer UTV has a tiff with Salim Sulaiman leaving the project without music composers
Problems seem to have struck Madhur Bhandarkar's much awaited film Heroine, again. After Aishwarya Rai opted out as the female lead in the film, Bhadarkar and UTV Motion Pictures, the co-producers, found a replacement for Ash in Kareena Kapoor.
However, now, according to sources, Madhur may lose his music composers Salim-Sulaiman. This is because, reportedly, the composer duo and UTV have had a fallout.
Salim-Sulaiman have apparently demanded royalty for their music and this hasn't gone down too well with the production house. UTV has asked an explanation for the composer duo's demand.
"UTV did not expect Salim-Sulaiman to make such a demand. The composers have worked with UTV in Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion in 2008. The box office success of the film had at the time benefited Salim-Sulaiman as well," informed a source.
The source further added, "It's not that Salim-Sulaiman have had a successful run in the recent past. So their demand for an additional royalty has raised a few eyebrows."
While UTV refuses to bend, Salim-Sulaiman too are adamant about their demand. "It's a stalemate. If UTV and Salim-Sulaiman, both parties refuse to budge, then the music director for the project will need to be replaced," added the source.
Bhandarkar, UTV and Salim Sulaiman remained unavailable for comment.
Three-time Grammy award winner Lady Gaga is taking a keen interest in India. The platinum selling artiste collaborated with Indian movie composers Salim-Sulaiman and created a Bollywood style remix of her single Born this way…, which released earlier this week. The song will be part of her second studio album of the same name and is set to launch worldwide on May 23.
The four-minute filmi track is replete with a sitar intro, dhol beats, dubstep and background voice of Salim with Gaga’s vocal flair.
“Lady Gaga’s record label Interscope contacted us through the Canadian website, Desi Hits with the proposal to remix the song. We produced it and sent it back in 20 days,” explains Sulaiman, who steered clear of typical bhangra beats and attempted to give it a more Bollywood feel instead. “We were specifically told to make it sound like a Hindi movie club number. That’s why we put in the sitar sample and Salim sang the background vocals.”
The music composer further reveals that Gaga has produced another Indian version of Born this way…. “Canadian Punjabi artistes Sunny Brown and Baba Kahn have also produced a mix to suit the UK desi market,” says Sulaiman, before adding that though it is too early to confirm, Lady Gaga may soon be visiting the country for either a concert or to record a Bollywood song.
The 25-year-old songstress too has expressed her eagerness. “I can’t wait to come to India. When Salim-Sulaiman sent me the track, I connected with the dhol and rhythms very well. They’ve done a fabulous job. It’ll be great to meet and work with more musicians like them,” says Lady Gaga.
The Emmy-winning musicians, who’re known to have previously incorporated western, folk, Hindustani and Sufi influences in their music, were an easy choice for Interscope. Tory Carter, head of Gaga’s management team confirms, “We collaborated with Indian music producers from across the globe to show our respect and appreciation for our fans. Desi is a new urban genre that combines traditional Indian music with Western pop and RnB. Salim-Sulaiman were ideal for the job."
