Remo does it again: another film song sung by him has reached the number one slot on Indian hit charts. This one is the title song of the film "Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha", and the music has been written by Jatin/Lalit.

There is a revolutionary first in this film: for the first time in Indian cinema, actual playback singers are shown singing a song on the screen in the actual feature film. Remo and Jaspinder Narula, who sang the female lead, are shown in a very well picturised video, once at the very begining, and once at the very end of the film. The video is presently being shown on heavy rotation by every music television channel in India. Channel surfing can be confusing these days, as up to three different channels sometimes show the song simultaneously!

Some excerpts from Remo's press interviews on the subject of the song:

PRESS: YOU ARE KNOWN FOR DOING JUST ONE SONG IN A FILM, AND THAT ONE SONG INVARIABLY BECOMES A HUGE SUCCESS. WHAT IS THE SECRET BEHIND SUCH A STRATEGY?

REMO: There is no strategy whatsoever here! You see, playback singing for films is not my main professional occupation. I prefer working on my own songs, doing my own albums. But once in a while, when a film producer approaches me to sing a particular song in a film because he feels it should be sung by me, I enjoy doing it.

PRESS: BUT WHAT MAKES YOU CHOOSE A PARTICULAR SONG? DO YOU ACCEPT THEM ALL, OR ARE YOU SELECTIVE?

REMO: Oh, when I initially decided to do film songs, I accepted all those who asked me. But I soon realized I was singing some very poor songs indeed - songs which I could never be proud of. And I decided then that I would only do songs which touched me in my heart and in my head. So I started asking music directors to send me cassette demos of the songs before I took a decision. If I liked the song, I did it. If I didn't, I thought up a polite excuse.

Of course, in the case of directors whose work I know and admire, like Rahman and Jatin/Lalit, I do not need to ask for demos in advance.

PRESS: TO WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THE SUCCESS OF "PYAAR TO HONA HI THA"?

REMO: The success of a song goes first of all to its composer. If a song is not good to start with, if the melody is not inspired, one can never turn it into a hit by having it sung by a good singer, by boosting it with a flashy video, or even by hiding its weakness behind impressive orchestration. All these clever additions might take a song that much further, but they will never be able to turn it into a real huge hit - for that, a song has to touch the pulse of the people. And that can only be done by a good composition and good lyrics. So when a song is successful, my first credit goes to its composer.

Besides this song being very good, the video has been very well directed by Ajay Devgun. He is one of the few truly multi-talented Indian actors we have, and certainly is more than just a pretty boy. Jaspinder Narula sang extremely well too.

And of course, I suppose I did contribute my bit with my own style of singing, which made it different [I'm not saying better or worse, just different] from the way someone else might have sung it.