Goa’s own pop star Remo Fernandes revolutionised the Hindi music world with his pulsating Jalwa and had the youth gyrating to the beat of Humma Humma. Two decades and more than a dozen film songs and albums later, the original fusion star of India is back with his latest hit Maria Pitache in Bejoy Nambiar’s bilingual film David. We meet Remo at his ancestral house in Siolim, a tiny village on the north of Goa.
In the midst of reviewing the book The John Lennon Letters for a magazine. He starts with his forthcoming film David. “It feels great,” he says giving his charming smile, “I’ve been away from Bollywood for long, working on my socio-political songs, albums and videos, and now it feels good to be back here too. And besides, David happened to be just what I was looking for: a film where I would not just sing playback, but compose, direct, record and sing my own songs. I’ve been politely declining playback of late.” What sets Remo apart from the pop stars is that he speaks his heart out. Recently, The Election Commission of India appointed him as the youth Icon which resulted in Goa witnessing the highest voter turnout ever.
He goes on, “I loved Kolaveri Di, and was the first one to defend it against my serious/intellectual musician friends who tend to look down upon such popular fun songs.” We nudge him to enlighten us about his first day of shoot and he laughs shaking his head, “Neither Bejoy nor the rest of the crew knew what I was like once I started singing; they’d never seen me on stage. At the first call for action, I jumped down from the shack railing and did my thing. After the first take there was a moment’s silence. Then everyone including Bejoy broke out in spontaneous applause. It felt great.” Rumours has it that actor Vikram has sung the Tamil version of Maria Pitache. Remo nods, “Frankly, it’s great for me, as Vikram is a South Indian god. And what better promotion than to be seen alongside a god. We have shot some music video footage together in a recording studio in Chennai, and I believe that video will hit the Net and TV soon.”
South reminds us of the music Legend, A R Rahman. Remo needs no prompting as he says warmly, “Recording Humma Humma with Rahman was a very good experience. In order to open up my voice, I did some vocal improvisations, the first time the machine ran. I was surprised, when I heard the final mix, he had artfully kept some of that, such as the cry ‘yabirey’. A truly creative person improvises as things progress.” For a Goan he seems pretty comfortable with the south film industry, we ask him if he will be willing to sing in Tamil or Telugu. With a serious look Remo states, “I have recorded the Telugu version of Humma Humma, and the last Telugu song I sang was Yuvakula Manasaina. It would be a pleasure to work more in the south.” We ask him about his next venture, Luv U Soniyo and Remo reveals, “I have directed, composed, performed and sung the title track for Luv U Soniyo, a film by first-time director Joe Rajan.”
As we take his leave, we ask him about any dreams that is yet to be fulfilled. Grinning impishly he discloses, “Lots, on the days when I think in a worldly way!... and no unfulfilled dreams on days when I feel more spiritual!”