The musical duo Salim-Suleiman has re-defined the world of background music in Bollywood. They first hit the limelight with the film Hamesha. But their biggest turning point came with the background score for Bhoot directed by Ram Gopal Varma. After the success of Bhoot, there was no looking back for the talented brothers as they went on to compose music for films like Darna Mana Hai, Ab Tak Chappan, Teen Deewarein and Dhoom. At present, their background score for the film Kaal is on everybody?s lips and is already a chartbuster. They attribute the success of the song Tauba Tauba to the wonderful picturisation and of course Karan Johar?s conceptualisation of the song. Right now, the brothers are busy composing music for a yet-to-be-titled film from Yash Raj Productions and they have a slew of other films in their kitty too like Boney Kapoor?s Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya and Nagesh Kukunoor?s Iqbal.

SALIM ON SULEIMAN

Honestly speaking, both of us were not on talking terms when we were kids. We used to have crazy fights and our parents had to constantly intervene to calm us down. Being the youngest, I was always at the receiving end as my elder brother, Suleiman used to bully me a lot. But I also was brash with him sometimes. Things became so bad that we almost didn?t speak with each other for three years. We had no reasons for the fights and given an opportunity we used to bring the whole house down. I think that?s because we went to the same school and college.

Both of us have different personalities and are quite opposite in nature. But what brought us together was our shared passion for music. Though I don?t have good memories of playing with Suleiman as a kid, we shared common musical interests. We even had a band of our own and it was our musician-father S.L. Merchant who brought us closer. When we grew up and matured a bit, one day our mother called us and advised us to take up music as a calling. Both of us liked the idea and so we thought of pairing up to compose music. That?s how our musical journey began and today, we don?t have any regrets whatsoever.

People often ask us whether we have any disagreements or differences of opinion while composing now. Disagreements are bound to happen since as individuals, it is normal to have our own opinions. But over the years, we have realised our strong points and our weaknesses and so when we rehearse, we keep all these things in mind. What I appreciate in Suleiman is that as a composer he has a very good sense of sound. He can engineer the whole musical arrangement brilliantly. But what I dislike in him is the fact that he?s not punctual. Suleiman is very lazy. He sleeps a lot and turns up late when we have musical sessions. This attitude of his makes me angry and I often shout at him for being late.

Another interesting thing is that you will not spot us together because have different sets of friends. Also he?s more outgoing and parties hard late into the night. I?m more of a homebody and love to stay at home when I have no work. But inspite of so many differences, at the end of the day, it is music which we are really passionate about. We hope to continue doing good work together in future.

SULEIMAN ON SALIM

As a kid I couldn?t relate to Salim and had fights almost every day. I remember once I had collected Goldspot crowns and got Jungle Book free with it. I was very excited with this offer as I had put in a great effort to collect all these crowns. But one day when I returned from school, I saw that my book was torn into pieces. I got so angry that I caught hold of Salim and twisted his arm. We had such huge fights during our childhood that I could actually write a book on it.

When we decided to compose music, initially we didn?t want to join the Bollywood bandwagon. But it was director Sanjay Gupta who saw the potential in us and offered us a chance to compose music for his film Hamesha. Our next milestone was Bhoot and after that there was no looking back. It?s only when we started composing that we realised our hidden talent.

Although we don?t have fights now like when we were kids, we do have creative differences sometimes. Nowadays, if we fight, it is towards the betterment of a song. Today every argument only brings us closer. What I like about Salim is the fact that he has an enormous amount of energy and is very focused about his work. Unlike him, I am very chilled out and tend to take life as it comes. Salim gets hyper and worried very easily. Therefore, I always advise him to take things easy.

The competition today is far fiercer than before and we have so many talented music directors in the industry. I always tell Salim to be positive in life and continue doing the good work he?s doing. Though we have our own studio in Mumbai, in future we want to shift to a new studio and probably compose music for Hollywood films.

Photograph by Sanjit Kundu