Ra.One is going to be the biggest hit of 2011: Shekhar Ravjiani

Some are going ‘Ooh Laa La’ along with the recently released Dirty Picture trailer, while the others are dancing hard to Ra.One's ‘Chammak Challo’—sung by Akon in his trademark nasal twang. What’s common to both? It's the formidable duo, revolutionizing the music industry, Vishal and Shekhar!

In an exclusive tête-à-tête, Shekhar Ravjiani talks about starting an ad films production house, composing for Bollywood, future of indi-pop music and of course Ra.One.

Congratulations on starting a new venture. Please tell us more about your production house hundredframes.com. Why Ad films production?
Thank you so much! I wanted to start an agency for a very long time now. Did you know that I actually started my career with advertising? I used to do a lot of work for M.A.D. films, especially on the music. But niche focus apart, I am well versed with the entire process of creating an ad film. Even as a music composer duo Vishal-Shekhar, we do a lot of ad films for select clientele.

For this venture, I decided to collaborate with a colleague from school, Prashant Sampat, who’s been into ad films production since the last 11 years. We’re looking at creating some cutting edge and captivating ad films. Currently, we are in talks with a lot of people both internationally as well as in India.

With Buddha Hoga Tera Baap it was an a capela music track. What special plans do you have for Ra.One’s music? What can we expect from the soundtrack?
Ra.One has got a crazy amalgamation of different areas of music. We got Akon to sing two tracks for us. In two days flat, we made him sing in Hindi. He sounds as good as any other Hindi speaking person. So I don’t mean to be too pompous, but it’s going to be the biggest hit of 2011!

Can you give us a sneak peek into the music of The Dirty Picture?
We've cracked two songs and have two more to go. It’s our second film with Milan Lathuria after Taxi 9211, so we have a lot of fun working. That’s the advantage of being in this business at the right time. You get to work with fantastic directors, who have a great sense of music.