Mohit Suri recalls how 'Zeher' started a new music trend
What's the story
Mohit Suri, who recently celebrated 20 years of his directorial debut Zeher, revealed how he popularized the trend of remixing slow songs from film albums. In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, he explained that the idea came to him while frequenting nightclubs where people craved Indian music despite English songs playing all night. He then came up with the idea of remixing songs from his film and leaving it up to listeners.
Pitching the idea
'We shot it with very little money...': Suri on remix
Suri recalled pitching his idea to Mahesh Bhatt, who produced Zeher. He said, "I remember I went to Bhatt saab (Bhatt) with the video of the remixed song." "We shot it (remixed version of 'Woh Lamhe Woh Baatein') with very little money as we didn't have a budget." "We pulled in a lot of favors for it. Alia Bhatt was very young (she was 12 at that time) and she was present in that room."
Suri's confidence
'That's how the trend started'
Suri added that Alia started enjoying the remixed song. "Bhatt saab told me, 'If she's liking it, it means that the song is good!'" He said, "I used to confidently tell people that 'Every nightclub will play this song once every night'." "But they ended up playing it a couple of times every night. That's how the trend started." "But the reason for it was to grab attention for the film starring newcomers."
Director-actor duo
Emraan is my 1st hero, says Suri
Suri, who has worked with Emraan Hashmi in seven films, including Zeher, Kalyug, and Murder 2, expressed his desire to collaborate with him again. He said, "I would love to work with Emraan whenever he calls out to me and wants me to do some film with him." "He's not just my first hero but also my closest cousin. He's the brother I grew up with." Meanwhile, Suri's recent directorial, Saiyaara, is playing in theaters now.