Mannan Shaah and Shashaa Tirupati on Namaste England’s Kya Kahoon Jaaneman

Mannan Shaah’s track Kya Kahoon Jaaneman for Namaste England, is a jazz-laced tune sensuously rendered by Shashaa Tirupati. However, the more striking aspect is that it’s been composed on just three notes. Mannan was inspired by Illayaraja’s song Raagam Rasamaya Vedamai sung by Shreya Ghoshal, which the maestro performed on stage. It was during a random jam on the piano that Mannan cracked the song and played it to producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, who loved it. “Javed Akhtar Sa’ab has done a wonderful job with the lyrics as well,” he states. 

EASY TO LISTEN, TOUGH TO SING

About crooning the track, Shashaa says, “It gave me a lot of scope to show my range as a vocalist. There is a lot of jumping notes since the tune is limited to only three notes, and I’ve sung in two octaves, which pushes one as a singer.” Her singing has impressed Mannan, who says, “I needed someone who could pull off the three-note composition without difficulty and make a tough song sound easy.” He emphasises that the track is easy-listening but extremely hard to render. “Her training and expertise in voice culture is evident in her singing,” he adds. The songstress gives credit to him in helping her prep for the number.

Mannan calls the song a seduction-romance composition that also has easy dance quality. “The idea was to remind the younger generation about the classic era where songs like Baahon Mein Chale Aao (Anamika), Kaate Nahin Kat Te (Mr India) existed. They were strong melodies by legendary composers,” Mannan states. Since it’s in the jazz space, which Shashaa has grown up listening to, it helped her emote. “I could give it a stylistic angle in terms of melodic rendition. It’s also a genre I haven’t sung in before,” she points out.

A still from the song Kya Kahoon Jaaneman

A CHALLENGE

Mannan says that late-night recordings with Shashaa, programming sessions with music arranger Prasad Sashte and live guitar and saxophone recordings will be memorable. “The final output of the song depends on the composer and his approach. I was lucky that Mannan was always clear about what he wanted when I would be confused,” Shashaa says of the experience of recording the song. “At the same time, he would let me do my own thing. He would encourage me for the things he liked and give me an option for what didn’t work,” she signs off.