(From top) Meet Bros.; Isi Life Mein

They jumped out of the television set into the recording studio and Bhangra-ed their way up the charts with Jogi Singh Barnala Singh. Then came their second album, with a pappi song inspired by the Mika-Rakhi Sawant kissing controversy. Now, after a short break, a name change and in their new avatar as music directors for Do Dooni Chaar and Isi Life Mein, the Meet Bros. are ready with a factory of all things musical. A t2 chat with the Punjab da brothers on striking one chord with two voices!

How did you bag a Rajshri film?

Manmeet: We had casually gone there to show them our bank of songs. For two months there was no communication, and then Sooraj Barjatya called us and told us that he had found the energy in our songs extraordinary. He even told us that some of our songs had inspired some changes in the script of Isi Life Mein!

Harmeet: That’s the energy you find in a bhajan, a folk number or a salsa song. It wasn’t that we were expected to come up with the typical Meet Brothers sound that you’ve heard in Jogi Singh Barnala Singh or Bhai tuney pappi kyun li.

Manmeet: They (Rajshri) have always accepted newcomers, launching Salman Khan, Sachin, Bhagyashree. And they’re able to do that because they believe in their scripts. They don’t need big stars or music directors to come and work for them. It’s a magical platform for any newcomer because your job is already done.

Harmeet: Do Dooni Chaar, our first film, was about life in Delhi and had a strong Punjabi flavour, which was more in the background. Isi Life Mein had layers of Rajasthan, Mumbai, youth and older generations in a pop fashion. Soorajji wanted a change in the sound.

Why have you renamed yourselves Meet Bros. Anjjan?

Manmeet: That’s Anjjan Bhattacharya, who’s a partner. He composes music. We’ve been doing shows together and now we’re doing five films together.

Where had you guys vanished, the last few years?

Manmeet: Three years back, when big albums of singers like Sonu Nigam, Rabbi and Daler paaji did not work, we understood pop was dying. We had our own radio station, which was doing well, and we realised the need to move into serious music. We never expected to land up in a Barjatya film, but it was a dream come true. We needed a bank of 200 songs and it took us two years to meet people and tell them about our music. Since we had this pop image, it was hard for us. Nobody took us seriously. Everybody thought we’d do the same casual Punjabi stuff. Nobody was interested in believing we could do serious music.

Harmeet: It took us three years to set up an entire empire of music. Now we have a music company and a recording studio, we’re composing and we’re singing. We’re the only two brothers in the country who have the A to Z of music under their roof. The idea was to be a one-stop shop for business solutions in music. Our studio (in Mumbai) is on the main road on the way to and from the airport with a big board you can’t miss. It’s called Meet Bros. Music Company, Meet Bros. Recording Studio and Meet Bros. Composers. In fact, whatever music you’ve heard from Jeet Gannguli till date was all recorded here.

What other films are lined up?

Manmeet: We’ve signed nine films of which two have seen the light of day. The others that we’ve composed for include Deepsikha Nagpal’s Yeh Dooriyaan, Govinda’s Naughty@40, Girish Malik’s Guns and Heroes and Pradeep Sarkar’s Tevar, which is stuck.

Harmeet: We also do lots of shows — around 120 a year across the globe.

Since the two of you sing, don’t you want to have individual identities as singers?

Harmeet: Two brothers, one voice: that’s our concept. We have family businesses that we could pursue separately, but this is a common passion and it’s been a pact to do it together. The energy and synchronisation in two voices is what sets us apart. We’re the only two brothers in the history of this country who sing together in one voice.

Manmeet: We’ll probably never be able to do a romantic number or those emotional songs!

So what is your focus now — acting, singing or music direction?

Manmeet: Acting was always a passion. I did Hindi serials and also a Punjabi film, but gradually music took over. While doing music for a director, you make friends with them, so some day if we get some good roles we might do it for fun. But it takes up a lot of time. So the focus is music direction.

Harmeet: Singing and music direction.