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'Music is not heard today!'

Think of Anu Malik and lilting melodies come to mind.

From Sohni Mahiwal to Fiza, the one thing that has not deserted Anu is his sense of melody. To review this, his golden year, Shilpa Bharatan Iyer spoke to Anu Malik:

"I really don't agree with this 'golden year' theory that everyone is raving about," notes Anu.

"I still feel that I am just beginning my career. When people say 'golden year', I somehow get the feeling that they have written me off for the rest of it! Aur kya de sakta hai (what else can he deliver) type of thing. But this particular year, for once, I feel nobody can write me off on the awards' scene. The public have already accepted me in their hearts and I am having a very good shot at the awards' sweepstakes."

With Josh, Refugee, Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega, and now Fiza all coming together, Anu feels he has set extremely high standards for himself.

"Consistently giving good music is extremely difficult. There are a number of reasons for this. A music director may be overextended and, yet, afraid to hurt an old colleague, might end up accepting the film -- only to find the creative juices not flowing enough to do justice to the entire script. The story-line may be flawed, the director may not be musically oriented or be unable to extract the best that you have to offer at the time.

And, now in 2000, I have set such a high mark for myself that I will have, progressively, to strive to keep up this quality of music."

On the hype that surrounded Fiza and Hrithik Roshan:

"All of today's movies are being hyped. Being Hrithik's second film, there was, naturally, a lot of initial curiosity.

"Yet when the public go home and take out the music album, all that just fades. Nobody is really willing to shell out money for anything you dish out. Only good music will eventually sell and sustain itself. All of my four songs in Fiza: Tu fiza hai, Aajaa mahiya, Na leke jaao janassa, and Mehboob mere have been very well received. Kaafi dhoom machaa diya hai mere in chaar gaanon nein! (These four songs of mine have created quite a stir!).

"I'm fond of all my Fiza creations, but the one that is particularly close to my heart is the title track: Tu fiza hai. It was recorded a couple of days after my maama (uncle), Hasrat Jaipuri, passed away. Composing this tune, full of feeling, is something that came spontaneously.

"Gulzar Saab's poetry just flowed, I began to hum the tune for his lines -- and Tu fiza hai virtually evolved itself. Both my singers here, Alka Yagnik and Sonu Nigam, have done full justice to the number. I could not imagine Tu fiza hai taking off with any other pair of singers. I'm extremely satisfied with the end result."

Of the current crop of singers

"Alka has the perfect tonal range to do justice to my tunes," argues Anu. "She manages to produce that extra bit to satisfy the composer in me. Of course, Alka -- or anyone else -- cannot do that 100 per cent of the time.

Fiza arrived as Hrithik Roshan's follow up to Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, and Anu Malik has been noticed that much more. Subhash Ghai has signed him for Yaadein, starring Hrithik Roshan; Meghna Gulzar has booked Anu Malik for the still-to-be-titled film with which she makes her directorial debut; while Anu will also be scoring for Satish Kaushik's Badhaai Ho Badhaai.

With these exciting ventures in hand, Anu is full of go. Are there any considerations while signing on a film? "Definitely!" exclaims Anu.

"You certainly look for a saleable star, a good script and a musically aware director to picturise your songs effectively. Music is not 'heard' any more. It's all visual. So the director has to do a good job indeed in the matter of picturising the song. This, in fact, is half the battle won. If the movie is, say, an Abbas-Mastan production, you know that the songs will be given their visual due and that inspires you to do your best."

On being confronted with the allegation that his music sounds very 'Rahman' in orchestration, Anu retorts: "Don't go by orchestration alone, look at the underlying tune. Each tune in Fiza is vastly different. I have been uniformly melodious in my career.

"Remember, all of us use technology, so we may all be employing similar orchestrating techniques. Yet each one of us has his own individual creative spaces, spaces that are vastly different. "

Anu Malik is regarded as the most hardworking of today's music directors. He confesses: "I’m actually extremely insecure. Whatever I am today is because of God. All the fan following I command is a direct result of my hard work. I can relax only when I'm working!"

So relaxing does Anu weave his magic, creating melodies that never quite leave your lips. A name to hum – Anu!