Jatin–Lalit

Jatin and Lalit are musicians who compose music primarily for the soundtracks of Bollywood movies. They are brothers and come from a lineage of Indian classical musicians. They are the sons of composer Chitragupt Pandit. Jatin-Lalit is a short version of their full names, which appears on covers of music CDs, DVDs. Jatin Pandit and Lalit Pandit are their actual names. Lalit is nine years younger than Jatin.

Over the years they have developed their unique style of music composition.

Career

Übersicht

They began their career in 1992, composing music for the Hindi movie Yaara Dildara. They were first noticed for their work on the soundtrack of the movie Khiladi and for Pehla Nasha, a successful romantic song from the movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. Their compositions are noted for their melody and harmony, and are reported to have been strongly influenced by R. D. Burman's style of music making. Towards the second half of the nineties, they were among the most sought after music directors in the Indian film industry.

The duo has always used many singers according to the need of the situation. Their works with veteran lyricists Javed Akhtar are great pieces of musical magic and Anand Bakshi as well. To cite a few are Yes Boss, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. Noted singer Kumar Sanu has worked with the duo and have also given hits under their compositions and evergreen songs that would be remembered for years to come, to cite a few are, "tujhe dekha to" (from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge) and "jab kisiki taraf" (from Pyar To Hona Hi Tha).

Their Music for DDLJ was well appreciated by stalwart like Pt.Jasraj who happens to be their far relative

Special Appearances

It is interesting to note that Jatin of this duo has appeared on the big screen. In the movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar he appeared in the song called Diwane Hum Pyar Ke. He is actually dancing and singing the song on screen himself. Seeing him on screen no one could tell that he is the music director of the film. He has done a remarkable job. Further Jatin also sings Ruth Ke Hamse Kabhi in the Film which is a back ground song picturised on Amir Khan remembering his childhood memories with his elder brother. Indeed Jatin has done real justice to his number as he sings from his heart.

Plagiarism

It’s always in the focus of a good music director that his style and creativity are original and benchmarking. Though Jatin-Lalit have their own style and originality, it has been found that they are inspired by musical works of other musicians. They are known to have lifted styles and compositions from various western and middle-eastern compositions. Many songs have been modified by Jatin-Lalit, but some of the songs are copied as it is. However not only Jatin-Lalit have been inspired by other musicians, but noted music directors like R D Burman,Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik, Deva (Tamil) are also known to have inspired by works of other musicians.

Lead actor as a singer

Jatin-Lalit are pioneers of making a non-singing lead actor sing in a soundtrack of a movie. They specially composed a song called "Ae kya bolti tu" in the film Ghulam which is sung by the lead actor Aamir Khan. The song was an instant hit. Then after a long gap, they made Sanjay Dutt sing in the movie Khoobsurat.

Shared Music Score

During last few years of their joint career their music albums contained a few songs composed by some other musicians. This practice is not liked by Jatin-Lalit, however, the producer and director insisted on it. It first happened with Karan Johar's K3G, where two of the tracks where composed by youngster Sandesh Shandilya. Then Chalte Chalte is a good example. In this movie, Aadesh Shrivastava has composed 2-3 songs. Also in Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, one song is composed by Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid.

Work with TV channels

Jatin-Lalit are famous for being recluses. They neither attend big parties, nor come in for media interviews. Jatin-Lalit were appointed as judges in the hit musical show "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" - the musical challenge. This show was created by Zee Televisions. In the show duration, Jatin-Lalit fans got an opportunity to see and learn their honest behavior and modest conduct. After the grand success of "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa", they judged another musical show "Star Voice of India" in Star Plus.

The Separation

After working for almost 16 years together, they announced that they would be parting ways. Fanaa was their last movie together. Reasons for the separation are unknown. Their separation was a huge shock to their hard-core fans. Now they compose music independently for movies.

Lalit has managed to get a few assignments. His recent music score was for "Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee" - a movie by Vikram Bhatt (year 2007) did not go down well with the audiences.

Jatin is currently working on Planman Life's Production titled I AM 24, starring Neha Dhupia and Rajat Kapoor and directed by Saurav Shukla. It is a diwali release. He has also composed for filmmaker Raja Sen's next venture Krishnakanter. "I am working on the number. I am trying to make it in such a way that it goes along with the novel written by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay. The song will be melody based," says Jatin. He has also recorded an album for IBPC President Abbas Ali Mirza which is to be released shortly. Jatin is all set to give opportunities to upcoming talent as he realises that there is so much of it, while working on the TV show Voice Of India as a mentor.

Awards and Recognition

Their great works often went unrecognized by government as well as by media awards such as the Filmfare Award Before separation, in an interview, Jatin-Lalit cited their only regret as not getting any kind of award.

In spite of their successful career they have neither got any Indian National Award by the government of India nor the Bollywood's most prestigious Filmfare Award.

They say that recognition from the audience is like a big award.

Many songs by this duo have become immortal. The soundtrack of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, composed by Jatin-Lalit, was judged the top Hindi sound track of all time by on-line voters on the BBC Asian Network. Interestingly, the number two and three positions also went to Jatin-Lalit for their compositions from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai respectively.

Their last work together, Fanaa received Filfare for the best song of the year for the song Chand Sifarish. It was received by Shaan, the singer of the song, who said that it was a fitting end to a successful partnership and he said that he wish that both of them be back together.

Discography

An almost complete list of movie albums by Jatin Lalit are:

External links