Nadeem has carved a niche for himself as a solo artist with two albums already to his credit. An audience of 20,000 is expected to attend the concert organised by Habib Nadiadwala under the patronage of Sheikh Abdullah bin Rashid Al Mualla and Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Qassimi. The nominal gate fee is inclusive of the free bus service to the venue which is a half-hour ride away from Dubai.

Riding on the sweeping popularity of the musical score they composed for the recent, award-winning film Raja Hindustani and the superhit movie Judaai, the "two-man machine" has been churning out scores of chart busters and seldom a flop. Although the duo have had their fair share of ups and downs, there is no looking back now. Nadeem, the more loquacious of the duo was in town last week to finalise the nitty-gritty of the show.

Excerpts from the interview:

Congratulations on winning Filmfare's Best Music Director award for Raja Hindustani and your subsequent comeback. You guys proved that you are real survivors?
Thank you very much. Well, many may think that we are making a comeback but we were always around. By the way this is our fourth Filfmare award.

Then, how come we don't hear much of Nadeem-Shravan as much as we used to?
Frankly speaking we had a bad patch but that was because of our own doing. Recently, we cut down on our assignments to two films a year for which we had to turn down offers from some good banners. Mind you, we are doing this to improve on the quality of our songs and to avoid being repetitive.

But do not you think your loss has been your rivals' gain?
You can say that. But we do not believe in churning out albums for which we have to seek inspiration from abroad or across the border. Right from Aashiqui to Raja Hindustani, we are proud to say that we have been able to maintain our indigenious style.

But you mean to say you never had this urge to tread the path chosen by your rivals?
Seldom do we try to emulate the "keyboard formula" that's floating in the air these days. We believe in making maximum use of Indian classical instruments for our folk tunes. We do make use of western instruments but that's minimal as soft music is our forte.

How is your technique different and how long you take to record a number?
We rely mostly on talented musicians for all our compositions. Recording does not take that long because we spend a lot of time doing our homework.

Producers do not demand the kind of peppy music that A.R. Rehman or Anu Malik compose from you?
No, they know we are not into that kind of music. So, they come to us for our kind of music and fortunately or unfortunately they do not ask us for those numbers even if they are hits.

What do you planned to celebrate 50 years of India's Independence?
We have composed music along patriotic lines which goes Yeh Duniya Ek Dulhan, Dulhan Ke Matay Ki Bindiya, Yeh Mera India for Pardes which has Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. This film, due for release in August, has an expat-based theme and is shot in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. As I have seen the rushes I can say with confidence that this is going to be a knock-out film, the biggest hit of the year.

Is it true that you still have a huge bank of pre-recorded tunes?
Yes, we do. In all 5,000 of them.

So, how do you market them?
Actually, we read the script of the movie first than we try to decipher the tune in a particular situation. Of course, this is done with appropriate changes by considering the demands of the script and the trend prevailing at the time.

Which kind of song do you think strikes a chord with film music buffs?
A song that is catchy with good rhythm and most importantly that fits the storyline. Take Raja Hindustani, the song Pardesi, Pardesi with its folk-based tune, was an instant hit. Similarly, our Aashique and Saajan songs fitted the script.

Where do you seek your inspiration from?
Basically, I am a nature lover. Music composer S.D. Burman and Shanker-Jaikishen are my idols.

Should a music director be a sort of a poet as well?
Personally, I think it is important if you want to do justice to your tune. And if you have the poet in you, it shows in your compositions as well.

Is it true that you have received a fleet of cars as gift from producers?

So far, we have received 11 cars from producers as gifts for the chart busters we produced. But Subhash Ghai, the producer did not even wait for the release of the Pardes music.

In Bollywood you are dubbed as the "designer duo" who market themselves on publicity posters and album jackets?
Yes of course, we adopt a very strong marketing strategy otherwise it's not easy to survive in today's competitive atmosphere.

How did you two meet?
It was more than 16 years ago when we met as judges at the St Anne's School function in Bombay. Ever since we have gone through blood, sweat and tears but survived several attempts by vested interests to break up the team. This very hurt and humiliation has helped weave one of the most wonderful success stories in showbiz.

So, what next?
You know I have had a video release of my album Shaisha and Hai Ajnabi has just been released in India. Now we are planning to go international that's the reason I am here in Dubai. After our first Gulf concert here in the UAE on May 29 we are moving on to England and subsequently to the U.S.

Courtesy: Sunil & Jayaprakash