Exclusive! Musician Vipin Patwa took a month to compose Ishq Mera song for Bhuj: The Pride of India

Vipin Patwa has recently composed the song Ishq Mera for the Ajay Devgn starrer Bhuj: The Pride of India. The soulful song is rendered by Pratibha Singh Baghel, while it has been penned by Kavira Ahir. The music director and composer is known for his soothing and semi-classical tracks like Matlabi Yariyan from The Girl On The Train, and Sehmi Hai Dhadkan from the 2018 film Daas Dev. In a recent chat with OTTplay, Vipin reveals his process of music, his journey in Bollywood, upcoming projects and more. Excerpts:

Creating the song Ishq Mera for Bhuj: The Pride of India was not easy. Vipin revealed that he spent more than a month to create just the first part of the song. “I was given the situation of the song in the film. The makers told me that Nora Fatehi’s character is in Pakistan in this particular scene, collecting secret information as an Indian spy and this song will run in the background. After a few days, I remember, I had just got done with my morning prayers and I was mumbling the lyrics of the song and that's how I composed it,” he says.

The music director draws his inspiration from nature. He says when he starts working on a project, especially a soothing and soulful song like Ishq Mera or Matlabi Yariyan from The Girl On The Train, he goes outdoors to feel and get inspired by the nature. “I just stop working for a few days. I go out and stay in nature because it supports me a lot. If a situation in a particular film dictates you the requirement, then it’s easy to work on a certain track, otherwise, nature does phenomenal work,” he adds. Giving an example, he says he travelled to Kushinagar and got inspired by a small girl who was singing and playing the harmonium for a song he composed recently for Zee studios. And it was loved by the directors, says the singer-composer.

Furthermore, he mentions that his process of making music depends on which the kind of song he is planning to produce. If it’s a peppy track, then he stays in the studio and mainly in the city nearby in the happy surroundings, which is full of people and if it's a soothing track, he then goes to a quiet place amid nature to think as he says, “silence is the purest form of music.”

Hailing from a business family, Vipin says he was born with a talent for music. "When I was in school, my teachers would push me onto the stage to take up the morning prayer and sing the bhajan in front of the whole school. I saw the lines of that track and made composed a song, which everyone loved. From there, the trend started. I would perform at most school functions. Later in my life, I learned more about music and went to perform on the radio in 2000. Post my graduation in music in Delhi, I came to Mumbai and everything started falling into place.”

The music composer has worked in multiple genres throughout his career but he says he prefers to make something that is intense, yet soulful like Matlabi Yariyan. He adds that he also really enjoyed making Sehemi Hai Dhadkan for the film Daas Dev, directed by Sudhir Mishra in 2018. But unfortunately, the song could not be promoted due to the political tensions between India and Pakistan. The singer Atif Aslam refused to promote the song. Speaking about the issue, he says, “The situations like this make us helpless because nothing is in our hands. However, that song is still on people’s playlists and even in Pakistan, that song did really well. People from the neighbouring country know me because of that song. So I would say that where there is a will, there is a way.”

The sudden boom of the OTT platform has widened the opportunities for actors and filmmakers alike. But Vipin feels for musicians, it does not make much of a difference. "The effects of movie theatres are always huge and if the song is really great, it takes its place in the heart of the audience, be it with a film released in theatres or on OTT platform," he says.

Which singer do you really want to work with, in future? “I have worked with most of the singers in India and a few leading singers of Pakistan. But, I really like to work with Abhijeet and currently, I got an opportunity to work with him for an upcoming Parineeti Chopra starrer film, which is going to be an espionage drama,” he says adding that he would like to also collaborate with some of the big Hollywood singers for a fusion project, where he can showcase Indian music talent.

Vipin has got a lot going on right now. Talking about the future projects, he says he’s currently working on the comedian Krishna Abhishek’s home production while a peppy track for the Shilpa Shetty, Abhimanyu Dassani starrer film Nikamma has already been completed. “I have composed a few tracks for Zee studios recently, which will be out soon,” the music composer added.

“Meanwhile, I’m also working on something for myself. I am making a new composition, and working more on my art to grow as much as I can in this field,” Vipin adds and signs off.