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Politically alive -Biddu
By Shanaz Ramzi
One of the senior composers of modern music that India boasts of, Biddu has surprisingly strong and blunt views on politics and has no qualms airing them. Perhaps, it is the English influence (he is settled in the UK) that makes him shed the diplomatic garb that most celebrities from our part of the world don. Whatever the reason, he is an interesting person to chat with for not only is he willing to speak openly, he has informed views, as this writer discovered in Dubai, where he was a presenter at the Lux Style Awards.
Paradoxical as it may sound, Biddu claims to be a cross between an agnostic and an atheist, and yet admits the last two years have been spent working on his next album called Diamond Sutra, scheduled for release in August. He hastens to add, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all religious. The album is actually quite modern sounding and all the songs have four-line verses.”
One wonders why Biddu did not team up with any other Pakistani singer, given that his collaboration with Nazia Hasan immortalized some of his compositions. “With Nazia, it was more a case of both of us living in England at the time, and luck played a part. No one else approached me from Pakistan even after Nazia’s Aap Jaisa Koi from the Indian film Qurbani hit the top of the charts. I did pair with Junaid Jamshed though, only once.”
Biddu makes no bones about the fact that he would love to do joint ventures with Pakistan, provided he is invited to do so, and would be specially keen to visit Islamabad and Lahore. He asserts he doesn’t believe in boundaries and says he “can’t see much difference in the attitude of Pakistanis and Indians.” In fact, he finds Pakistan “a cleaner version of India.”
Although he doesn’t see the likelihood of much improvement in the political atmosphere of the two countries, he feels there is a lot of potential for Pakistani singers to make their mark in India.
Forthright in his views, Biddu states, “India needs someone as strong as Musharraf. Initially, Indians didn’t like him, because of Kargil and the fact that he is a military man, but now they see him as Pakistan’s saviour and feel he is not a corrupt statesman. In fact, they grudgingly admire him. However, they fear him, too, as he is the leader of a country they have not been friendly with in the past.”
Just as candid in his opinion on the Kashmir issue, Biddu claims, “India should not give up Kashmir. If it does, India will break up and there will be an uprising in Assam.” The Bangalore-born composer is as vociferous in expressing anti-American sentiments and states that “American arrogance has been responsible for many problems. They have a despicable gung-ho attitude.”
Steering Biddu away from politics with great difficulty, I ask what he plans to do now that his album is nearing completion. He has a ready answer, “At the moment I’ve taken my foot off the accelerator and am cruising. I’m dividing my time between south of Spain and England.” One is sure when he steps on the gas once again he will have everyone rocking to his trendy tunes.
FACTFILE
— The early years of Biddu’s career were spent churning out hits for artists like Tina Charles and Carl Douglas. — His Hindi-pop journey started when he composed Aap Jaisa Koi for Qurbani in 1980. It skyrocketed the then teenage Nazia Hasan to fame.
— Biddu went on to write a majority of tunes for Nazia and Zoheb’s albums, such as Star (1982), Young Tarang (1984) and Hotline (1987).
— After keeping a low profile for several years, he made a comeback to the Indian pop music scene by composing and producing Johnny Joker — The Album for Shweta Shetty, in 1993.
— The high point of his comeback was an album called Made in India produced in 1995, which became the hottest-selling Hindi dance music album of its time.
— In Boom Boom — The Biddu Experience (1995), he remixed old Nazia and Zoheb tunes.
— Junaid’s first solo album in 1995 had three songs by Biddu.
— Biddu’s next hit album was Naujawan (1996) featuring the sister pair of Shantanu and Sagarika Mukherjee.
— In Jaana Hai Bollywood (1996) performed by Models (India’s first all-girl pop trio), the album had a reworking of Biddu’s earlier collaboration with Junaid Jamshed, Mehndi Ki Raat.
— The title song of his solo album Farebi (1997) was a big hit.
— Memorable works include the reworking of Asha Bhosle’s old tunes — Asha Once More, an album with outstanding tracks such as Parde main rehne do and Ik pardesi mera dil lay gaya.
— In 1999, Biddu released the solo album Eastern Journey. Although it was not commercially popular, it displayed Biddu’s talent and knowledge of eastern music fused with western and jazz influences.
— The latest album to feature Biddu’s work is Ye Dil Sunn Raha Hai, sung by a girl band called Sansara. — S.R.