On April 14, Mumbai audiences can enjoy the foot-tapping songs of the cult classic, 'Disco Dancer' on stage and relive the disco fever of the 80s. In an exclusive interview with Outlook, Salim Merchant spoke at length about the musical, the challenges, Bappi Lahiri's reaction to it and more.
From composing some popular tracks for Bollywood films to launching their own music label, the supremely talented music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman has come a long way since they started their career in music. Their contribution to the industry is immense and exemplary to all budding music composers or singers. The duo is all set to celebrate the legacy of the film, 'Disco Dancer' which was, is and will always be a cult classic.
Salim-Sulaiman has come up with 'Disco Dancer-The Musical' in a Broadway form. They have recreated legendary Bappi Lahiri's music of the Mithun Chakraborty starrer. On April 14, Mumbai audiences can enjoy the foot-tapping songs on stage and relive the disco fever of the 80s. In an exclusive interview with Outlook, Salim Merchant spoke at length about the musical, the challenges, Bappi Lahiri's reaction to it and more. Here are the excerpts from the conversation.
'Disco Dancer Musical' is all set to premiere in Mumbai. How are you feeling right now?
Feeling fantastic. It's something that we always wanted to do, something that we felt..it will bring a lot of happiness to the audiences and entertain them. Very happy that 'Disco Dancer Musical' is coming alive. It had a successful run in London last year. At that time, we decided that we will bring it to Mumbai, to our own city and here we are with 'Disco Dancer' in Mumbai on the 14th of April.
When we mention 'Disco Dancer', two things come to our mind-one Bappi Da’s music and songs that were unparalleled, second Mithun Chakraborty-both legends. To recreate something which is already iconic, how did you maintain the originality?
You just answered my question. We maintained the originality. From every music part to tune to lyrics, to everything. It's difficult to recreate the sound of the 80s. It had certain sounds with certain vibes which was very unique at that time. And to look for those sounds, that texture and tonality. We haven't made 'Disco Dancer' modern at all. I would repeat that. We haven't tried to make it modern or putting a rap or anything like that in this. This recreation is done in its authenticity because we have recreated 'Disco Dancer' and created a world of 1980s for our viewers. We want to make our audiences travel back to that era so that they can enjoy the glory and the happiness that was there at that time. We have taken a lot of care, like we have looked for those sounds, and recreated the baseline like exactly how Bappi da has created those rhythms, patterns and sound.
You and Sulaiman have composed music for movies. Now, when it comes to something like 'Disco Dancer' musical, do you feel any challenges to compose or scoring music for it?
Of course, there are lots of challenges. There is no cut, no retake. Whatever is there, it's there, all live. It's a huge challenge to do everything live. It's not easy. The film had so many layers, it had so many parts where there are flashbacks and time travel. We have done all of that live on stage.
Bappi Da was the pioneer of bringing disco music to the country and he was called the Disco King. What are your views on today’s disco music and songs?
Disco has not changed. It's the same and not gone. The 1980s is very much present even now. It's something that will never die because that form of music is so evergreen and everlasting that it will always be there. Karan Johar brought it back with 'Disco Deewane'. Some years back there was 'It's The Time To Disco'. Bollywood has always embraced disco music and so has the West.
Was Bappi da aware of this project?
He was aware of it and was very happy that we were doing it. He was extremely satisfied and he knew that we are also composing two fresh songs for this musical. He was supportive.
Did you get any feedback from him before starting this project?
When we started the project in 2019, that's the time I informed him and he was extremely happy. But unfortunately, Covid happened and then after that very soon he expired last year.