Music and politics should remain separate: Sachin

With tensions between India and Pakistan rising over the Mumbai terror attacks, Hindi film music director Sachin Gupta feels that music should not become a victim of hostility between the neighbours and should be kept away from politics.

The music director, who has worked with famous Pakistani singers like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam, said, "Music has nothing to do with politics. All I have to say is music and politics should remain separate."

Sounding quite contrary to singer Abhijeet, who had once said that all Pakistani artists should be banned here, Gupta said, "Music cannot be branded Indian and Pakistani."

Gupta has scored the music for the film Dil Kabbadi, a romantic comedy starring Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen, Rahul Bose and Soha Ali Khan. The film, which has eight songs, was released on December 5.

Reacting to the observation that the music in Dil Kabaddi has a Pakistani feel, he said, "Such observations come from people who are ignorant of music. The so-called Pakistani sound in Atif Aslam's songs are created by me. I gave the music for his hit Doorie. But just because the singer is from Pakistan people say it sounds Pakistani."

Sachin, who has worked on many albums with artistes like Alisha Chinai and Apache Indian, said working on Dil Kabaddi was a great experience. "Dil Kabbadi is one of the best things that has happened in my life. It's a good break. I was making the track Ehsaan for my band when the producer of the film Shailesh heard it and said the song fits in well with a situation in the film. That's how it all got started." Gupta has also sung the track in the film.