Azeem Dayani: One has to be a good listener to create good music – Exclusive! – Times of India

Azeem Dayani started his career in the Marketing department, before shifting gears and trying his hands as a music supervisor, a profile still unheard by many. Azeem is currently working at Dharma Productions with albums like ‘Kapoor & Sons’, ‘Shershaah, ‘Laxmii’, ‘Simmba’, ‘Kesari’ and ‘Good Newwz’ to his credit.
In an exclusive conversation with ETimes, Azeem spoke about his musical journey and his new, exciting profile as a music supervisor. Excerpts…

A music supervisor profile sounds extremely exciting, yet unheard of. Please take us through the same…
I started music supervision, which is a fairly new profession here in India, in 2016. The first album that I supervised was Kapoor & Sons, which included songs like Bolna and Saathi Rey. It was after a long time that Dharma had come up with a multi-composer album. Technically it was ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ where the concept of multi-composers was introduced, but all that was managed by Karan Johar sir himself. However, the same format was reused for Kapoor & Sons, which was supervised by me. During the same, I worked with artists like Amaal Mallik, Badshah, Arko, Tanishk Bagchi, Benny Dayal, and Nucleya, who came together and churned out songs that are played even now at events. This was the first time that music supervision came into the picture, where one dedicated person meets different artists, vibes with them, understands their compositions and then packages everything into an album. Post Kapoor & Sons, I did Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif’s Kala Chashma which was my second album – this is how my journey started.

Can you please elaborate a bit on the profile?

As explained earlier, a music supervisor meets different composers, and delves deeper into their music. So, if they have a lyricist, then we will let them develop the song and then work together on making it better. Some advice is exchanged and the song is packaged and finalised. On the contrary, if there is no lyricist, the supervisor introduces a new composer and meets a lyricist who will come up with something interesting. It is teamwork, where everybody works together to compose a song. It is also a great way to introduce new talent, an example of which is Jasleen Royal, who was a new composer during ‘Baar Baar Dekho’ and did two songs in that album, which is quite a rarity.

How important is it to have technical knowledge of music for this profile?

For this profile, first and foremost, one has to be a good listener to create good music. I don’t have any technical expertise or knowledge, but I have always been a huge music buff. Questions like, ‘can we do this?’, ‘can we do that’ and ‘I think it would be better’ are the most important ones in this profession. Because the more one exchanges ideas and vibes with artists, the more positive energy flows and better music is created. I didn’t do any homework when I started with ‘Kapoor & Sons’, but gradually I learnt the ropes. From Kar Gayi Chull to Chogada Tara (Loveyatri) to Teri Mitti (Kesari), the format of music also keeps changing, so we need to keep up pace. It is an ongoing learning process.

Have you associated with any music maestros so far?

No, but I’m looking forward to that. Maybe in the next few years, that’s the plan. I am collaborating with Mithoon, (of Aashiqui 2 fame) next year.

This profile has been newly introduced to India, so before this, who used to supervise the same?

Earlier, the director generally used to work with one composer and come up with the best suited music for that particular album. Of course, that is still happening, so this profile hasn’t replaced any particular job. However, filmmakers are also consistently working with multi-composers to bring variety into the album. For example, I recently worked with filmmaker Raj Mehta for Good Newwz and he was extremely clear that he needed help. Music supervision is not something that is forced upon someone, rather we are chosen for the same. The same thing happened with Vishnu sir (filmmaker Vishnuvardhan) when we collaborated for Shershaah. Sir loves music, but was not familiar with Punjabi music, which the album is replete with, hence I came into the picture.

Why Dharma Productions?

Because they showed immense faith in me. I was working in marketing and they gave me a chance to supervise an entire album for the first time, without a musical or filmy background.

Take us through that backstory…

I am a music buff, who used to make his own playlist after work hours. Karan Johar sir and Dharma Productions were aware of my musical affinity, so when Kapoor & Sons was being made, I recommended a song named Kar Gayi Chull because earlier, ‘Saturday Saturday’ from ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’, on similar lines, had done pretty well. When I recommended the same, they asked me to find 3-4 more such songs. Then, I met Tanishk (Bagchi) and we composed ‘Bolna’ together, followed by Buddhu Sa Mann with Amaal Mallik. Soon, the entire album was created.

What do you want to achieve with this profile?

Just like the song Teri Mitti from Kesari made the country proud, I wish to put together music that makes people feel proud of me. My father is watching me from above, so I want to leave behind a body of good work. At the end of the day, people come and go, but music will remain. Hence, I want to create stuff that people celebrate and remember me for.