EXCLUSIVE: Lalit Pandit on his reunion show with brother Jatin after their split in 2006: Realised we couldn’t work together again

The 90s era of music is considered a golden era in the Indian music history, and a big name during that time was the music composer duo Jatin-Lalit. The duo has given some of the most memorable tracks like Pehla Nasha from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, soundtracks of films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, amongst many more. However, in 2006 the duo split owing to personal differences with Lalit Pandit forging a career of his own. Recently, the composer released his latest single Zara Dil Khol Ke and he indulged in an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble where he spoke about the single, the 90s era and his split with brother Jatin Pandit. Excerpts from the interview:

You recently released your single Zara Dil Khol Ke, is there a story behind the title? 

“The song is called Zara Dil Khol Ke Jeene De, and it’s a dedication to my boarding school in Panchgani, Sanjeevan Vidyalaya, where I studied. My school has completed 100 years, so this song is to celebrate my memories at that place as it enters its centenary year. It is a very important period of my life and I wanted to celebrate it through my music and congratulate my school too. It has partially been picturised in the school too with some of it shot in Assam.”

 

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You belonged to an era in the industry that thrived on film music, but in today’s time where independent music gets a lot of recognition, do you feel a sense of freedom? 

“Yes, in fact I have spent my whole life only making film music, and when you are doing that, you are doing it according to the director’s vision but in indie music, you can do what you want. If you see beauty in it, you can make it, and that is a freedom which I am enjoying so much that I can’t just put it in words. I have two upcoming films too where I have given music, including Mussoorie Boys and Binni and Baba.”

The music of today has become very fast-paced, do you sometimes miss the softness and innocence of the 90s? 

“The music keeps evolving with time. Every 5 years, something new comes. So, this is also a different phase, and the current lot are all very talented but maybe they aren’t getting the opportunity to express their creative freedom. We got filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar to work with, but right now there are many restrictions like remixes and all. And it isn’t that audience’s taste has changed. They will consume whatever you give them.”

 

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Jatin-Lalit became a brand together, but after your split, how difficult did it get to make it on your own?

“It had never happened before that a brand like Jatin-Lalit had formed and they split when on top. Fanaa was our last film together and Chand Sifarish from that album was the song of the year. We knew that our work will get affected but somewhere I had this intuition that I will rise above it and make something on my own. It was a really struggling time and back to square one. But people who had worked with me before had faith in me, like Mahesh Bhatt worked with me again in Showbiz, with Vikram Bhatt I did Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi. But it was Dabangg’s Munni Badnaam Hui that changed things for me. It got all the awards that unfortunately Jatin-Lalit couldn’t get. Since then, I have done 27 films, 2 more are coming and life has moved on.”

After the 2020 concert that you and Jatin sir did together, did you ever considered working together as a unit again?

“I had thought that if everything worked well, we could do shows together, but I didn’t enjoy that experience and we again had arguments. And I realised we couldn’t work together, so I did it all on my name. And I feel Jatin should also do the same.”

 

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Did the media scrutiny during your split made the situation more difficult?

“The work that Jatin-Lalit did is something that isn’t easy to recreate. I don’t think that kind of work has happened again since. The fans do feel disappointed but you just can’t make everyone happy. The people who are scrutinising, they don’t know what we were going through. So, I did all I could. It wasn’t like people didn’t try to convince us, or we didn’t know what we were doing, we knew it would be back to zero for us but sometimes in life, there comes a point where there is no way forward. I tried again with the concert, but when trouble happened there, it took things back.”

What’s the vision for the future for Lalit Pandit?

“I am working and I will keep on working. My sons have also grown and have started working on their own in the musical field. My elder son released a song Stop the war. My younger son is also a composer. They are forging their own path and I am behind them. I have been grooming them since childhood and now they are amazing musicians. So, I will keep on making music on my own and so will my sons, although they don’t want to do films right now.”

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