Thank You for the Music

The 75-minute film traces the lives and experiences of the unsung heroes behind the evergreen music from the ’50s and the ’80s,such as the orchestra,arrangers and recordists. Kersi himself is a second-generation musician from a family that has been immersed in film music for more than half-a-century. The story begins with Kersi’s father,Cawas,who became famous within the industry for bringing in new and international sounds with his innovative percussion. Kersi and his brother Bujji soon joined their father. As Bhattacharjee’s film points out,since 1947,almost every third song from that era had a Lord performing in it.

Ask Kersi about the songs,and he says,“There was never any time to listen to our own songs. We’d record about five songs a day,so I’d have to erase from my mind whatever I played during a recording at

7 am,so that I could play afresh during my next recording at 10.” Kersi dropped out of school and began playing music for films when he was just 14. He failed Class XI twice and ended up practicing for up to 14 hours a day. “My neighbours would say,‘Kersi please,we have an exam tomorrow,please don’t practise today’.”

From the ’50s to the year 2000,Kersi has worked with almost all the top music directors. His friends once tried calculating how many songs he had recorded as an instrumentalist and an arranger. He recalls,“We took an average of two songs per day and came up with a total of some 20,000 to 25,000 songs. That’s impossible,I think,but there were so many,it’s hard to keep count.” Recording music in the early days was very different,says Kersi. “We didn’t make songs like today,in patchwork. There could be between 40 and 100 musicians in one studio,sometimes sharing one microphone. And everyone had to get their part right for the final take. I remember the looks Lataji would give us if anyone made a mistake,because she would have to begin singing the song all over again for the new take,” he says.

These challenges meant nothing to Kersi,who tried new techniques to get a bigger,better and newer sound. “My family and friends would call me mad,because many couldn’t digest the music I was making. When I made the background score for the play Tughlaq,someone said behind my back,‘Isko music bolte hain? But even after 40 years,people listen to those songs,” he says.