Son of noted music composer Roshan, Rajesh Roshan was still in school when his father passed away. But in many ways his father’s music still influences the seasoned music composer who broke through the Hindi film industry with Mehmood’s Kunwara Baap in 1974.
Sharing his memories with Cinestaan.com, Rajesh spoke about growing up in a house filled with his father's music. He said, “At the time, I was in the eighth standard. I was too young, but fortunately, that music went on in my house. I kept playing those raag-based songs. All the big writers, like Sahir saheb (Ludhianvi), Majrooh saheb (Sultanpuri), Kaifi Azmi saheb, all of them were my dad’s good friends. Not writer friends, but good friends. I had the opportunity of meeting them, sitting down with them, when they used to drink and so all that got into me.”
The young Rajesh also got a chance to share his opinion of the kind of music his father and his associates were creating. “I noticed where he used to make a good song, and where the singers used to falter. I used to tell him, ‘Oh, Papa, this was a good song, what happened?’ He said, ‘They didn’t understand what I was trying to teach them. They used to call me whenever they used to make a song, Sahir saheb and Papa, they used to call me, ‘Raju ko sunao, yeh gaana kaisa laga hai [Let’s let Raju listen and see].’ I had nothing to hide, nothing to fear. I used to say bluntly, ‘Theek hai [It’s okay]’ or ‘Yeh gaana achha hai [this song is good], isko Westernised kar diya hai shayad [Perhaps this has been westernised]’ or ‘Wahan pe Shankar-Jaikishan ne bahut achha music diya hai [Shankar-Jaikishan have composed that well]’. I was very frank,” he divulged.
Rajesh will be scoring the 16th home production for his older brother Rakesh with the upcoming Kaabil (2017) which hits theatres on 25 January. Even though they have been working together for the past four decades, the younger brother says it’s not always smooth sailing between the two. He admitted, “We have a lot of fights internally, lots of loud fights but when we wake up in the morning, it feels like I did something wrong. So I go and say sorry.” Despite the disputes while working, their families share a close relationship.
On 28 January 2017, Roshan will embark on a special musical concert called 'Roshan Se Roshan Tak' highlighting the special musical legacy of over 70 years of three generations of the Roshans, from his father Roshan to his nephew, the actor Hrithik. Among the songs that will be a part of show will be ‘Jo Wada Kiya Wo’ from Taj Mahal (1963) composed by his father.
“Even now, when I see the song, I think, ‘How did they picturise this song? How is it possible that Pradeep (Kumar) is standing there, Bina Rai is coming from there?” Rajesh said the song has haunted him from when he was young till today.
Rajesh Roshan announces concert with Sudesh Bhosle, Palak Muchhal, Sadhana Sargam