Didn't think 'Ek Do Teen...' would become so popular: veteran music composer Pyarelal

life of a composer is unpredictable, says Pyarelal of legendary music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal, recalling how some of ir most complex creations quietly faded away while a simple melody like "Ek Do Teen" went on to become a chartbuster for generations.

music composers -- Laxmikant Kudalkar and Pyarelal Sharma -- began ir film career in 1963 and emerged as one of most successful and popular music composer duos who collaborated with filmmakers such as Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, BR Chopra, Shakti Samanta, Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra, Boney Kapoor.

Also referred to as 'LP' by ardent fans, discography of duo ranged from sentimental "Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai", "Sheesha Ho Ya Dil Ho", playful "Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho" to foot-tapping hits, "Jumma Chumma De De" and "Ek Haseena Thi".

In 1998, Laxmikant passed away and that was end of ir glorious 35-year-old partnership. ir last film was "Deewana Mastana", 1997 rom-com directed by David Dhawan.

"Music composer's life is so unpredictable. Our good songs, which we thought would work, have t and it has happened a lot. You do feel sad," a reminiscent Pyarelal said.

"I can think of beautiful 'Akela Hu Mein Humsafar Dhundta Hu' sung by Mohammed Rafi from 'Jaal' (1967). But Sunday doesn't come every day and t all songs will be a hit is what I tell myself," music veteran told PTI in an interview.

Recalling story behind "Ek Do Teen" from 1988 film "Tezaab", 79-year-old composer said y didn't expect song, penned by Javed Akhtar, to become a chartbuster.

"re also those songs which we wondered why did we even record but y have become hits! Like 'Ek Do Teen'. If you look at its melody, it's thing. It's so simple. I've always felt it's Javed Sahab who did wonders to it with his poetry."

track, sung by Alka Yagnik and choreographed by Saroj Khan, catapulted actor Madhuri Dixit into an overnight dancer-star and left a massive pop-culture footprint.

Pyarelal credited Akhtar for using numbers — in days, weeks, months and years — to describe a lover's longing, which made song "immortal".

" way he came up with 'din-hafta-mahina-saal', it completely transformed song. Orwise, melody is thing really, if you look at it musically. Also, way it was shot, choreographed, danced, mattered. w, look how it has turned out. I didn't think 'Ek Do Teen' would become so popular," he said.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal has several celebrated film soundtracks, including "Bobby", "Karz", "Milan", "Satyam Shivam Sundaram", to ir credit.

duo also had longstanding partnerships -- from lyricist Anand Bakshi penning for more than 300 songs for ir films to superstar Rajesh Khanna for whom y composed music in over 25 movies.

longevity of ir songs is a result of combined efforts of se artists who gave ir best, Pyarelal ted.

" way lyricist wrote poetry, singers who gave ir all for tracks, way it was picturised, are also factors in making a song evergreen. If you have a great, simple melody with good poetry, song will find a place."

composer is currently seen on MX Player's latest show "Times of Music", which features 20 composers reinventing each or's iconic tunes.

Hosted by music director Vishal Dadlani, each episode sees two composers of different eras interpret each or's celebrated songs in ir own style.

show features Pyarelal re-imagining composer duo Salim-Sulaiman's romantic-ballad "Shukran Allah" from 2009 film "Kurbaan".

Salim-Sulaiman have, in turn, given ir own twist to popular Laxmikant-Pyarelal composition, "Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi", sung by Kishore Kumar for 1964 movie "Mr X in Bombay", in which iconic singer also starred.

"What I loved about this concept was how we could re-imagine songs which we have loved. Salim-Sulaiman are such fantastic composers. Whenever we meet we endlessly talk about music. ir taste, ir idea is unique and so fresh," Pyarelal, who guest composed "Dhoom Tana" in 2007 film "Om Shanti Om", said.

"I've tried as hard as I could to do justice to ir compositions. re was a challenge, to present it differently, change sound, re-arrange it, give it a new colour. w it's up to audience to decide if y like it," he added.

"Times of Music", whose aim is to bring in composers to gracefully give tributes to compositions of contemporaries and seniors, is a departure from remix trend which has been criticised for merely cashing in on popular melodies time and again.

More than decision to recreate classics, fad has been called out by musicians for unimaginative manner in which y are produced by music labels, often without original creator's consent.

Laxmikant-Pyarelal's compositions, including "Ek Do Teen" for "Baaghi 2" and "Hungama Ho Gaya", originally from 1973 film "Anhonee", for "Queen", have also been recreated.

Bollywood veteran disapproves of remix trend, saying it is t a good practice.

"You should t remix songs. This is t a good trend. Even if producers insist, you should t do it. I am t at all happy with this. You are just repackaging same song where melody is disturbed, its rhythm, pattern, all is over," he said.