The Sachin-Jigar musical duo has been one of the most trending duos in the industry. Be it Chaar bajj gaye lekin party abhi baaki or the latest Thumkeshwari from Bhediya, the duo has many blockbusters to their credit. In this week’s Celeb Talk, they speak to The Pioneer’s Tejal Sinha about their journey, work, and much more.
The Bollywood music industry has brought us several musical duos who have changed the dynamics of Hindi music.While there were Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Shankar-Jaikishan, Nadeem-Shravan, and Jatin-Lalit, who created magic during their era, we have Salim-Sulaiman and Vishal-Sekhar, who have been taking the music duo legacy in Bollywood forward.
Isn’t a duo missing here? If you’ve been closely following Bollywood music, you might have guessed by now who we are talking about.If not, then let us give you a hint. This duo is behind every second trending song that you listen to. They are incredibly composed songs.
Making it even easier, their most recent songs, Apna Bana Le and Thumkeshwari from Bhediya, and Sab Farzi and Paisa Hai Toh from Farzi, were blockbuster hits. Yes, it’s the Sachin-Jigar musical duo that’s been one of the most trending duos in the industry.The duo have created their own niche. Today, if you were to ask who Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya are, you might not recognise them. But as soon as you hear Sachin-Jigar, your mind will be bombarded with a long list of chart-topping superhits.
While one might think they might have a journey as smooth as butter, that was not it. Before they started making their own music, they collaborated with many legends of the Hindi music industry, including Pritam da, A.R. Rahman, Amit Trivedi, Anu Malik, and Vishal-Sekhar. But how did Sachin and Jigar turn into Sachin-Jigar? “I met Sachin while working with Rajesh Roshan, who introduced me to him through Amit Trivedi.
Then, before we realised it, we were professionally arranging music for the Roshans, and it seemed to us that we made a good team,” said Jigar, adding that working with such connoisseurs was an incredibly enriching experience. He continued, “Every session offered a lot to learn. And we believe that this is what enabled us to learn so much about music and what listeners require. As a result, there has never been a challenge of this nature that could not be overcome. We have a great understanding between us, and the process is very easy with like-minded people.”
The duo have turned out to be synonyms for “superhit,” and we do have a reason to back this. Remember the party song Chaar bajj gaye lekin party abhi baaki from Jacky Bhagnani’s 2011 film F.A.L.T.U.? The film’s party anthem and Le ja tu mujhe were their first assignments as an independent music director duo. These songs turned out to be the massive hits of the year. And then began their journey, bringing back-to-back superhits.
After that, they composed music for Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya (2012), one song each for Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum (2012), OMG: Oh My God! (2012), and Ajab Gazabb Love (2012), full albums for ABCD: Any Body Can Dance (2013) and Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story (2013), one song for Himmatwala (2013), two songs for I, Me, Aur Main (2013), and full albums for Go Goa Gone (2013) and Ramaiya Vastavaiya (2013), and later collaborated with Yash Raj films via the highly successful Shuddh Desi Romance. They are responsible for another superhit and viral song, Samjavan from Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania, as well as Jeena Jeena Jee Karda from Badlapur, both of which are still popular among fans. We’re confident that if we sat down to bring you their list of composed music, our column would be filled with nothing but their film titles (wink).
So, the most recent is Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon’s Bhediya, Thumkeshwari, and Apna Bana Le, which have both been trending on social media since their releases. One is a dance song, and the other is a perfect romantic track. For the duo, they say, “Bhediya has been a really special project, and we are pleased that the listeners are loving the songs Thumkeshwari and Apna Bana Le so much. We set out to create something with Thumkeshwari that would be both enjoyable and appropriate for the movie’s genre — something that would be easy for the audience to grasp. To enjoy the lovely chemistry between Varun and Kriti, Apna Bane Le had to be a beautiful love song with profound lyrics and all those feelings.”
Meanwhile, another album, Sab Farzi, has been the talk of the town and is from the recent Shahid Kapoor film Farzi. The song, with music written by Jigar and his wife Priya Saraiya, captures the essence of what the series wants to show the audience. Sharing about the experience the musical duo had with the filmmaker duo Raj and DK, they enthused, “It is always very easy and fun to work with one of the finest directors, Raj and DK.
We share this incredible connection that doesn’t require much comprehension. They give us complete creative control over the music and also give us their honest feedback. And thus, the whole process of creating music for them becomes very easy.”
For the Farzi album, the duo also collaborated with the music maestro Tanishk Bagchi, and they all praised the composer. “Tanishk Bagchi is a delight to work with every time. He is incredibly talented and excellent at anticipating the needs of the audience. We have a great deal of regard for and understanding for one another.”
Social media has turned out to be a boon for many artists of the current day. In fact, several artists have been recognised through social media. Along with public relations, social media platforms have ensured that celebrities are directly available to viewers.
Sharing their take on the same, the duo opined,“Times have changed now; we are currently in the fast phase of the social media era. There is always room for more talents, and it doesn’t really matter where they come from as long as they are recognised and valued.”
Having an endless list of blockbusters, we were also eager to know their music-making process, to which they replied, “We don’t have a set method that we adhere to, and we don’t want to settle for one particular approach. The film’s storyline and the director’s vision are two important factors. We produce the magic that the audience adores after taking these briefs.”
While Sachin has expertise in Indian music and singing, Jigar, on the other hand, has expertise in western music and instruments. Working together on a single project could bring up creative differences and disagreements. But guess what? There were no disagreements between the two. Isn’t that something surprising? But the duo said, “We’ve developed the ability to think along similar lines. Whoever has the first idea proposes it, and we move forward with it. If the first step is carried out, let’s say, by Jigar, I will know where and how he is thinking, and I will carry out the second step.”
Having been able to cover almost all kinds of films, the duo believes that they still have a lot that they want to learn and explore. “We would love to do traditional Indian period films, like Sanjay Leela Bhansali sir’s. But in our opinion, a lot depends on the kinds of scripts that are made available to us. If we like the script, we will do it,” said the virtuoso duo, adding, “We have definitely developed as musicians in all these years.
Initially, we were too rebellious to alter our music to match the audience, but as time has passed, we’ve come to see that occasionally these modifications are beneficial. We have advanced and discovered how to go one step further.”
On the work front, they have an untitled film with Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan, a web show called Saas Bahu aur Flamingo, and a few other projects. Get ready to witness more smash hits by the duo.
