Baby Doll (Ragini MMS 2; 2014), Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan (Roy; 2015), Aa Toh Sahi (Judwaa 2; 2017) — these hits by music duo Meet Bros (Manmeet and Harmeet Singh) are a staple at almost every gathering. And their forte, naturally, is now churning out such peppy tracks.
However, they beg to differ. “We’ve also composed romantic songs like Hangover (Kick; 2014) and Ik Mulaqaat (Dream Girl; 2019). But, we still haven’t been able to break the party number image. And this breaks if you pick up an award,” says Harmeet, adding: “Awards ke liye kismat chahiye. The best music directors in the country got it after 20 years.”
What also doesn’t help is that there are two kinds of songs — one that goes viral and the other that becomes a chartbuster. “Our romantic songs are the latter. Par ek cheez hoti hai rage, gaane jo wildfire ki tarah pakadte hain. That’s when people say, ‘Wah, kya gaana banaya hai’. That’s when your image changes,” reasons Manmeet.Harmeet goes on to cite examples of actors who got boxed in a particular kind of image, despite proving their mettle in other genres: “Amitabh Bachchan ji aaj tak action hero ki image nahi change kar paye, jabki unhone kitni aur achhi films kari. Shah Rukh Khan is known for his romantic films when his best films have been Darr and Baazigar… People’s psyche doesn’t change easily. I always maintain that in the future, we will be known 50-50 for party and romantic numbers. We are strong at both, like a cricketer who does wicket-keeping and batting as well.”
