MUMBAI: Making music for ‘Apna Bombay Talkies’ has been the toughest challenge for me so far, said composer Amit Trivedi.

The song that is a tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema has unfortunately not been applauded by the audience, in spite of being rendered by acclaimed singers.

The sole inspiration was to try and fit the different eras of Hindi cinema from the 1930s till date in one song. We had to include the style of KL Saigal to Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangheskar to Bappi Lahiri and from Shaan to Sonu Nigam,” Trivedi told Radioandmusic.com.

To incorporate such diverse changes in styles and differences in melodic structures, Trivedi kept the basic tune ‘neutral’ so as to easily fit in the different style requirement of different eras. The challenge lay in fulfilling the music of the different eras by giving different treatment to each era without compromising its essence and central theme.

The six minute song has a galaxy of playback singers from Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, Kavita Krishnamurthy, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Sudesh Bhonsle, KK, Sukhwinder Singh, Shilpa Rao, Mohit Chauhan, to Sonu Nigam who pay tribute to the 100 years of Hindi cinema.

A well received video for the song has an equally luminous  number of Bollywood actors from Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan to Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor participating in the revelry.

The music album comprising of six songs is written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Swanand Kirkire.

The absence of legends like Dilip Kumar, the Bachchans, Salman Khan, the Deols, Rekha, Hema Malini, Jeetendra, Hrithik Roshan, Ajay Devgn and Kajol – to name a few has been very well noticed.

“It took me 2-3 months to co-ordinate with the singers. There was no briefing and the singers only had a couple of lines. The list (of singers) was of those who had learnt their voices to the stars of Hindi cinema. Kishore Kumar for Rajesh Khanna, Asha Bhosle for Zeenat Aman, Shailendra Singh for Jeetendra, Kumar Sanu for Shah Rukh Khan and Mohit Chauhan for Ranbir Kapoor and so on.”

As per reports, Shobhaa De said, "Not a single shot of Salman Khan in parade of Bollywood Greats 'Bombay Talkies'? His absence registered more than several presences."

To critics who accuse the film fraternity of not doing enough to mark the industry’s centenary year, Trivedi said he did not want to be embroiled in controversies.

“ Those who will say will do so. I got a brief to do the song. I had a responsibility and I did my best to fulfill it.”

For Trivedi music and dance will always be an integral part of the film industry.

“ Songs have been the most integral part of Hindi cinema for the past 100 years and will stay that way for the next century. That's our conditioning. We cannot imagine a film without songs.”

An Indian anthology film, Bombay Talkies consists of four short films, directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar. We hope that the film's release on 3 May fulfills the expectations of the bollywood fans who are looking forward to celebrate the centenary year of Indian cinema. It will also be screened at the Cannes film fest later this year.

Click here for the song:- http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/video/talent-pool/apna-bombay-talkies-bombay-talkies-ft-aamir-khan-madhuri-dixit-akshay-kumar-others