If you thought the magical musical formula of the moment was taking a golden oldie and mixing it up with a few electronic beats, you have made a miscalculation. Not everything that gets remixed or remade is a block off of the old chestnut.

The market for remix versions of new Bollywood chartbusters is as happening. For every Kabhi aar kabhi paar, there is an Aisa jadoo dala re, which makes sure your Saturday nights are not just about the Shamshad Begums and Lata Mangeshkars of the world.

While terms like R&B, lounge and house have crept into the common party-hopping man’s lingo, Bollywood still wins hands down when it comes to choice of music. Calcutta’s top DJs admit to playing an average of around 70 per cent filmi music on any given party night. “We can’t possibly gamble on a Saturday night — we have to play loads of movie numbers,” admits DJ Vicky of Winning Streak.

And that is probably why the Bollywood music directors are not leaving anything to chance. As soon as one of the songs click with the footloose, mixes will be scratched and spun the very next day. So why not help yourself?

Every second film soundtrack these days has its own remixed cuts. The days when a “sad” (remember Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham?) or instrumental version used to fill dead space on albums have passed. Now, peppy remixes of potential hits round off the collection. It is also time to bid adieu to soundtracks with six to eight quality original tracks. The tally has come down to three or four, with the rest being devoted to remixes with catchy tags.

In an album like Dhoom, there are just four original tracks, padded with mixes dubbed The Bedroom Mix and Reprisal Edit. The title song that appears in the film has been rendered by Sunidhi Chauhan while the same tune with English lyrics has been rehashed by Tata Young. And to cash in on her popularity, a separate video has been put together, with the three male leads of the film — Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Uday Chopra — getting up close with the Thai babe.

“The DJs would remix the songs anyway. It works for a film if the numbers are playing in discos during its release,” says music director and Calcutta-boy Pritam.

Tata Young

Dhoom is hardly a solo affair. Many of this year’s Hindi film albums are similarly armoured. Mujhse Shaadi Karogi had a remix version of Aaja Soniye. Ghazal singer turned composer Roopkumar Rathod has packed in a Club Mix of the title track in Madhoshi. Vishal-Shekhar’s score of Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao has two remixes of Move the dupatta and Dooriyan named The Mix and Feel The Rhythm Mix respectively. The Rakht item number Oh! What a babe has three versions — Techno Mix, Club Mix and another one “with creative vocals by Shweta Shetty”. Phew!

And this is, probably, just a sign of things to come. For his new film Musafir, Sanjay Gupta has taken the plunge with twin albums — one club and one lounge. “There are around 10 original tracks. The fast ones have been slowed down and put in the Lounge album and the slow tracks have been made faster and included in the Club album,” says Vishal of the Vishal-Shekhar team, who is composing the music.

Bollywood film-makers have formulated yet another way of targeting the disco-hopping crowd and sneaking into the DJ collection. Almost every soundtrack has a hi-paced techno track, shot inside a nightclub, which gets natural preference at parties. Koi kahe from Dil Chahta Hai started it, followed by Kal Ho Naa Ho’s It’s the time to disco. Now it is a must for every film. The popularity of Fanaa (Yuva) and Kaho na kaho (Murder) have added fuel to the foot-tap fire. Up next is Aaja ve mahi in Fida and Go balle balle in Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa. “The disco songs are a rage at parties with everyone trying to match starry steps,” smiles DJ Akash.

And what do you do if you do not have the scope for either a remix track or a disco number in your film? Well, there are always item numbers to fall back on. Whether it is Yana Gupta on the bull in Dum, or Lara Dutta in tribal avatar in Khakee or Reema Sen and Gauhar Khan getting cosy in Aan , it is as much for the visual glory as it is for the aural aura on the dance floor.