Himesh's repetitive music has bored Harry to tears PASSING THROUGH

"Himesh Reshammiya is forcing people to listen to music through marketing gimmicks. We can't blame him, it's the music companies that do the job. It's high time he stops the repetition and concentrates on real music. HARRY ANAND, singer"

Harry Anand, the man who introduced us to the joys of remix videos, several hit numbers like Kanta Laga, Kaliyon Ka Chaman, Paradeshiya, Chhoti Jawani and discovered Telugu pop singer Smitha, is in the Hyderabad city for the launch preparations of Hemachandra's Hindi album. The first thing that you notice about Harry, who sang and featured in Badan pe sitare lapate hue, is that he has lost a lot of weight and is looking fit. When asked how he achieved this look, he says, "I eat to live, don't live to eat."

Brother of noted Bollywood composer Anand Raj Anand, the 37-year-old remix king is not just a composer, he is a singer, painter and an artiste too. Refuting charges that remixes spoil the authenticity of the song, Harry asserts, "Music is divine and it is my first and eternal love. Remixes help the new generation to understand and enjoy classics in their own way as today we have better technology and music systems. Had I not introduced Masaka Masaka, how many youngsters would have known about it in Andhra Pradesh? I just popularise those eternal classics and nothing else."

The musician who was in hibernation for almost a year is busy concentrating on original tracks. After rendering three songs for Nagarjuna's blockbuster Boss… I love you, he was busy learning new notes and sounds in Birmingham. If you thought he was washed away by Himesh Reshammiya waves, he has the answer. "On the contrary, I wanted to put a break on remixes. I feel enough is enough. I want to do original albums and I have a few playback offers too. When you are on a long drive, you need to stop somewhere midway, rest for a while and refresh. My musical journey is also such. Now I have fresh thoughts, fresh tunes and new sounds to give music lovers," says Harry.

He ended his contract with T-Series when the company asked him to make Himesh Reshammiya's remixes. Does he not like Himesh? "Himesh is talented and popular. I liked his songs when he composed music for films. Listen to the songs in Tere Naam, they are really good. But where is he now? He is forcing music. All the so-called popular numbers he sang have the same notes getting repeated. He's confined music to a particular metre. This is where he is going wrong. I read in a paper recently that, ‘You can hate Himesh but can't ignore him'. How true! He's forcing people to listen to music through marketing gimmicks. You switch on your television or radio and it's Himesh all over. We can't blame him, it's the music companies that do the job. It's high time he stops the repetition and concentrates on real music," says Harry who's started working on his own original album which will be released by the year-end.

Talking of Hyderabad, he says he loves the city. "People here are warm and have great music sense," says the Delhiite, who staged live programmes all over the world including the US, the UK, Holland, Australia, the Fiji and Bahrain, Mauritius.