The Invisible Men

While this may signify how much the Indian film industry underplays the importance of background scores in a film,it also shows that finally,people are waking up to it. Part of the success of the two recent blockbusters,Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and Dabangg,is being attributed to the film score. Milan Luthria,the director of OUATIM,in fact,delayed the submission of his film to the censor board so that he could appropriately recreate the ‘70s and add to the mood of thrill to go with the film’s storyline. Another successful film this year,Raajneeti,too has notable background music by British composer Wayne Sharpe (who also did Prakash Jha’s Gangaajal,which won him an award).

Having worked on three films with Jha,Sharpe feels that few in the Indian film industry pay heed to the background score. “A composer can work on the music only once the film is ready and due to the haphazard schedules,that doesn’t happen until the movie is a week or so away from the release,which doesn’t give one ample time,” he points out. Sharpe says he returns to work with Jha because the two share the vision and understand that the background score can enhance the movie experience manifold.

However,Sandeep Shirodkar,the man behind the music of both OUATIM and Dabangg feels that the scenario wasn’t always so. “We do have some remarkable work from ‘70s and ‘80s,like Sholay and Don. But then there was a time when the same set of tunes was being used for a corresponding set of emotions in every film,” says the composer who is behind recent musical hits like Jab We Met’s Mauja Hi Mauja and Tera Hone Laga Hoon from Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. It’s the effectiveness of background scores that had Shirodkar take on the job rather than turning a full-time composer. Considered as one of the top music arrangers today,it’s his work on the film’s music with Sajid-Wajid that had Abhinav Kashyap sign him on. “Dabangg is set in a North Indian town and most others would have explored the typical musical instruments from that region to compose the background score for the film. But Sandeep decided to experiment with guitar riffs and gave the film a Western Country feel,which set the right mood for the audience,” says the director.

It is commonly believed that thrillers lend to good background score and a horror film’s success depends on it entirely. “While the score for a thriller sets the pace of the film and preempts action,the trick to composing for a horror is in not letting the audience guess and adding to the visual impact when a scene takes a twist,” says Amar Mohile who has worked extensively with filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma. The veteran filmmaker is known for the memorable themes,be it the Satya’s award-winning score or his Sarkar series’ Govinda Govinda,which was composed by Mohile.

However,scores that stand out — as in Varma’s film – have often triggered the debate whether background music,as the name suggests,should remain unnoticed. Renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan is after all known for the use of silence and minimalistic music in his films. Sharpe,like Jha,feels that “the way the music playing in a restaurant shouldn’t interfere with conversation,background score should also not take away from the visuals”. But Shirodkar,citing examples from Hollywood,quips,“Films like The Good,the Bad and the Ugly and The Godfather would not have been iconic as they are if it weren’t for the themes one remembers them by.