Subhash Ghai, Anil Kapoor, A R Rahman, Ramesh Taurani, Kumar Taurani, Udit Narayan, Shiamak Davar and others attended the 25th anniversary special screening of Taal (1999) in Mumbai. It was held in PVR Juhu, Mumbai by Radio Nasha and was well organized by RJ Rohini, RJ Divya Solgama and their team. The event was memorable as the team of the film went down memory lane and raised laughs.
25 Years of Taal premiere: Subhash Ghai sold its music at DOUBLE the price of Pardes’ music; Subhash Ghai reveals “A R Rahman was paid MINIMUM fees”; Anil Kapoor raised laughs: “I feared kahin monologue Akshaye Khanna ko na…”
Music sold at an astronomical price
Towards the end of the event, Ramesh Taurani of Tips Music was called on stage. He said, “We bought the music of Subhash ji’s Khalnayak (1993). Then, he sold Pardes (1997) at double the price of Khalnayak while he sold the music of Taal at double the price of Pardes! However, we were sure that Subhash ji hai toh music accha hi aayega.”
He further raised laughs as he narrated, “Subhash ji called me home to hear the songs of Taal. The order of the songs I heard were ‘Ishq Bina’, ‘Taal Se Taal Mila’, ‘Nahin Saamne’ and ‘Kariye Na’. I loved the songs but I also wondered – Rahman saab ka music hai. Bombay (1994) mein ‘Humma Humma’ tha, Rangeela (1995) mein bhi peppy songs the. Taal mein koi dance number kyun nahin hai (laughs)?”
His doubts were soon laid to rest. “Finally, he made me hear ‘Ramta Jogi’ followed by ‘Kahin Aag Lage’. I realized it’s a mind-blowing album,” he said.
Ramesh Taurani also admitted that a lot of changes happened in the songs of Taal saying, “The changes happened nearly 25 times. Subhash ji would call and tell us not to use the old file and to lock the updated track! They made so many changes. We then made a CD and asked him, ‘Dekh lijiye, sab gaane correct hai na?’ (laughs). He approved it. We then sent it to Rahman sir and asked him if the production quality was up to the mark. He was very happy and the rest is history (smiles).”
Subhash Ghai then gave his version of the story saying, “They (Tips) gave me a lot of money for Khalnayak, more than what I hoped for. I quoted a high amount so that they decline. But they agreed!”
He then revealed, “The next day, I rushed to Laxmikant ji’s place and told him, ‘Zulm ho gaya hai’! I explained to him the situation and said, ‘Paisa toh de diya hai unhone. Now they should also earn. Warna bolenge ki Subhash Ghai fraud hai’! We then worked very hard for Khalnayak.”
Khalnayak’s songs worked big time and so did the tracks of Pardes. Subhash Ghai continued, “When they once again paid a whopping amount for Taal, I was more worried. But I was also sure that they’ll get the returns because of this genius man (points at A R Rahman).”
The Showman raised laughs as he said, “He (Rahman) was paid minimum fees in Taal!” The Oscar-winning composer laughed and admitted, “Let’s not go there!” On a serious note he added, “But everything is not about money. We are celebrating Taal’s 25 years. Money can never buy this!” As expected, there was a thunderous applause on this statement. Subhash Ghai once again made the mood light as he quipped, “Tips will give us a bonus on 25th anniversary of Taal!”
Kumar Taurani was also present and he added to the entertainment at the event as he said, “Ramesh used to agree for any amount quoted by Subhash ji aur tension mein main hota tha. But thankfully, until now, it’s been a positive experience working with Subhash ji to date.”
The event turned a bit serious as Subhash Ghai remembered the late lyricist of Taal. He said, “If anyone was the hero of Taal, it was Anand Bakshi.” He added, “He would tell me, ‘Subhash, tu phas gaya’! I asked him what happened. He replied, ‘The songs have come out so well. How will you do justice to it on screen?’!”
The madness before shooting the climax scene
Anil Kapoor then talked about his climax scene and raised laughs. He said, “Subhash ji gives dialogues at the last moment. The climax monologue was going to be shot the next day. I told him, ‘I am not coming tomorrow. Aap scene nahin de rahe hai mujhe’. He knows me so well that he said ‘Theek hai. Mat aa’!”
He continued, “I woke up the next day and decided that I’ll not go. But I was worried (how it would seem if I didn’t go for the shoot). I also feared that ‘Kahin scene change kar ke dialogue Akshaye Khanna ko na de de’!”
Anil Kapoor, hence, left to shoot for the film. “I reached the sets at around 12:30 pm,” he said. “He was relaxed as he knew I was going to come. Surprisingly, we finished the scene in 2-3 hours.”
Towards the end, Subhash Ghai talked about Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s absence at the event saying, “She’s not well and tried her best to make it. But she sent her good wishes.” He also revealed that Taal would be re-released on September 27 in 100 cinemas in India.
The screening began and what stood out was that the print and sound were of top-class quality and added to the impact. In fact, it seemed like we time-travelled to August 1999.
More Pages: Taal Box Office Collection
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