The indomitable talent of music maestro Pyarelal, one-half of the imperishable Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo, is about to find a new level in Farah Khan's second directorial undertaking Om Shanti Om.
Vishal-Shekhar, who stepped into Om Shanti Om after AR Rahman opted out, have
invited Pyarelal to do one song as a tribute to the golden 1970s when the duo reigned supreme.
"It was Vishal-Shekhar's idea. And I loved it," Farah told IANS. "Pyarelalji is a musical icon from the 1960s and 70s. The first half of my film is set in the 1970s. So what better artiste to recreate that era in song form?"
<b1>This historic recording bringing together the classic and the contemporary was done with a commodious live orchestra.
"That's the way songs were recorded before this new-age fad for instant satisfaction. Nowadays, studios are kerchief-sized with all the sounds coming from one tiny box. The problem was, there was no recording studio large enough to accommodate Pyarelalji's huge orchestra."
Farah said they wanted to bring live feel and didn't want to use computer-produced sounds.
"But I did want the feel of those zingy Kishore Kumar-Laxmikant-Pyarelal numbers in the 1970s like Om shanti om in Karz, Jaan-e-man kissika naam nahin' in the old Jaan-e-Man and Main aaya hoon in Amir Garib."
Interestingly, Farah's second film gets its title from a hit Laxmikant-Pyarelal tune from Subhash Ghai's Karz.