TIPS redoes Rahman’s Rangeela hit, Mangta hai kya, with new music video

It was a new venue for me, though not very far from my house. Located high above a leading footwear brand showroom on Linking Road, Santa Cruz, Bombay Adda (hangout) is a cosy place, just right for the size of the turnout on April 22. The occasion was the launch of the reprised version of A.R. Rahman’s hit from the film Rangeela, released 27 years ago, by TIPS Music, the company that had released the Rangeela music back then as well. Incidentally, Rangeela was Rahman’s first Hindi score. All the personalities associated with the new version were present, along with a substantial media turnout.

Ganesh Acharya, Chirantann Bhatt, Deeksha Toor, Kumar Taurani, Aditya Seal, Palak Tiwari and Aditya Narayan

Directed and choreographed by Ganesh Acharya, the music video features Palak Tiwari and Aditya Seal. It is sung by Aditya Narayan, who has quite some time back, emerged from the shadow of his illustrious father, Udit Narayan, and Deeksha Toor. The music, which retains a lot of the original feel, is the handiwork of Chirantann Bhatt.

Quite obviously, the sensuous moves, passionate dance and mesmerising expressions of Urmila Matondkar in the original ‘Mangta hai kya’ (What do you want) made the song quite a craze. In its 2022 recreated version, two of the hottest properties of Bollywood, Aditya Seal and Palak Tiwari, and a host of male and female dancers, have given a fresh new lease of life to the pulsating track. Picturised in All Saints School, with the teens and twenties dancers sporting school uniforms and gyrating to a short story-like episode, probably inspired by Archie-Betty-Veronica, the song is nothing if not foot-tapping.

TIPS, which is run by the two brothers, Kumar and Ramesh Taurani, has divided its business into films and music, with Ramesh looking after the films sector. Kumar Taurani, who carries his advancing years lightly, said on the occasion, “There’s something magical about old songs, which has the power to revive memories. They become even more interesting when recreated to match the sensibilities of the newer generation. We have a bank of 800 songs that we are considering for remixing. Of these, 4-5 have already been done and will be released soon. Our plan is to release 10 such songs/videos every year.”

Aditya Narayan said on the occasion, “Remakes are risky, comparison is inevitable. ‘Mangta Hai Kya’ is a classic and we have done our best to give it a new variation." In an answer to a question, he commented that of all partnerships between his father and various music directors, he rates the Rahman-Udit Narayan work right up there.

Aditya Seal (pronounced Seel by everybody, but I can wager his surname is Syal; this is probably his fifth music video): "I see it becoming a party, club favourite. It's peppy, catchy and groovy. It was a pleasure working with TIPS Music, which is one of the best music labels in India. Keeping our fingers crossed"

Palak Tiwari, daughter of actress Shweta Tiwari, who was flattered to have her name taken in the same breath as that of her mother, opined, "It is an honour to be a part of the remake of an iconic song with TIPS. ‘Mangta hai kya’ is one of my personal favourites from the 90s. More than a recreation, I would say it is a millennium version. We hope that the audience loves it as much as we do."

Deeksha Toor, who had struggled to gain a foothold in the Mumbai music industry for four years and had gone back to native Delhi when she got the call for this song, said, “I have grown-up listening to the song, and now singing it feels surreal. I would like to thank TIPS for bringing me on board as a singer. I had a great time. I never knew that destiny would be so kind that the first song I ever hummed as a toddler would become the first, biggest song of my music career. If destiny exists, I think this is what it means.

Ganesh Acharya said that there was little to direct in the video, after he had decided to give it a school setting, and given the artistes a school uniforms to dance in. “Choreography, feel and vibe of the song is totally different from the original. The steps, back in the day, matched the 90s era, I have given it a modern twist, as to cater to today’s audience. But we have added very little in terms of phrasing."

Asked about his creative process in composing the song, Chirantann Bhatt revealed "Creating music for ‘Mangta hai kya’ was nostalgia. Having said that I was clear that I didn't want people to listen to it and say that oh, it's nice because it sounds similar. I want people to say, the music is different that's why they like it."

Composed by A.R. Rahman, the original was written by Rahman’s regular, Mehboob. Additional lyrics have been provided by Manoj Yadav, whose presence was missed. The event, which was inordinately delayed, was compèred by RJ Roshan of a local FM radio station. Having compèred a dozen TIPS events in the 80s and 90s, I confess that I was getting a bit emotional, sitting in the audience. Roshan mispronounced Chirantann twice and then asked him the meaning of his name, which, he told the gathering, means ‘immortal, forever’. They made a joke about it, and it was all accepted in bonhomie. The afternoon continued, with a dozen media-persons wanting to interview the talent, take pictures, selfies and make videos, and was followed by lunch. Should have been Hi-tea, considering it was 4.15 pm, but whatever the fare, it was welcome.

A success story that is uncommon, TIPS, the company started as a music shop, selling records. I first met a very young Kumar Taurani in the office of the Gramophone Company of India Limited (HMV), back in the 70s. Little did I know then that they would emerge as one of the country’s largest music marketing and film production companies, and that I would be compèring so many of their events. Back then, Kumar and Ramesh used to say that TIPS was an acronym for To Introduce Playback Singers. And they did introduce so many of them. Then, when the era of versions came along, they had hundreds, if not thousands, of releases on cassettes that gave both popular as well as lesser known singers opportunities to showcase their talents. The only thing they diversified into was making films, which was a natural progression. Today, TIPS is not an acronym but a synonym, a brand for big stuff.

Video Footage:

Part 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3nUgwnyHdk8yeNgT-BiPhnkCX4JwDGh/view?usp=sharing

Part 2

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MhR4Tw2cN_KPzB5Iu1lvFOffs4Vu0j3G/view?usp=sharing