Deepika irreplaceable, Vanga is 110%: Himesh Reshammiya

Himesh Reshammiya has spent decades inside Bollywood’s music machine, so when he plays rapid-fire, the answers land with the weight of someone who has watched a song go from scratch to screen. In a conversation with Komal Nahta, he named the producers he trusts with music, the actors he thinks actually listen, the one music-video face he would never recast, and the director he wants to work with most.

The producers who know their music

Asked to name three musically inclined producers, Himesh pointed to Bhushan Kumar, Ramesh and Kumar Taurani, and Ratan Jain. Crucially, all three run major music companies. His point is clear: a producer with a label behind him doesn’t just approve a song; he understands how it travels, where it plays, and why it connects.

• Bhushan Kumar — T-Series
• Ramesh and Kumar Taurani — Tips
• Ratan Jain — Venus

Salman and Akshay get the nod

When the conversation turned to heroes, Himesh kept it simple. He called Salman Khan “very, very conscious” about music and said Akshay Kumar is “100%” in the same bracket. For Bollywood fans, that matters because a hero who understands the sound can push a song from a good tune to a true event.

Why Deepika can’t be replaced

The most personal answer came when he was asked who could play Deepika Padukone’s part in the song “Naam Hai Tera” from Aap Kaa Surroor if it were made today. The video featured Deepika before Om Shanti Om. Himesh didn’t hesitate: “Deepika is irreplaceable. Even then, we knew that she was going to be a superstar.”

He also pushed back on the familiar narrative that his music video launched her. As Himesh tells it, many women got a similar break, but only Deepika became Deepika. He said, as translated, that he had no hand in whether she became a star. It’s a rare, graceful refusal to take credit, and it rings true for an audience that has watched her grow into one of Hindi cinema’s biggest names.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga wins the director round

Finally, Himesh was asked to choose among Mohit Suri, Aditya Dhar and Sandeep Reddy Vanga. His answer was instant: “110%, I’ll choose Sandeep Reddy Vanga. I love him!” That pick is telling. Vanga builds films with loud, music-first emotional beats, and a composer like Himesh, who thrives on melody and mass appeal, could slide into that world naturally.

Why these picks matter

Himesh’s rapid-fire choices reveal a filter that fans often miss. He isn’t ranking star power; he is naming people who hear a song the way a composer does — its hook, its placement, its long life beyond the film. That is why the Deepika answer works on two levels: it honors the music video that gave early fans a glimpse of her, and it gives the artist full ownership of her own rise.

Source: Bollywood Hungama