RAGE RHYTHM

Making great music comes easy to Nitin Sawhney. After the haunting score for The Namesake, the British musician has composed for a 1929 silent film, Prapancha Pash. eye spoke to him on politics, his inspiration and fave Indian actors.

You have worked with legends like Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Will Young and A.R. Rahman. What do such associations do to the ego of an artist?
It always humbles me to meet and work with artists I admire, whether it is Paul McCartney or Anoushka Shankar who will be joining me on stage at this year8217;s BBC Proms show in August. I8217;m also a great admirer of her father Ravi Shankar8217;s work. I was stunned when I was introduced to him and he said he was familiar with my work. I think my most humbling moment was meeting Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg where I interviewed him for my album Prophesy. Mandela, like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, is one of my heroes. Leaders and not music-makers count more as my idols because they have the power to bring people together and exemplify what it means to be a good person.

Every artist has a tone. Yours is strongly political.If I say I am a human being and I need to be treated equally, it8217;s interpreted in a political way and possibly termed communist. I don8217;t like the politicisation of simple human terminology and politicians tend to do this. You cannot be passive in the face of political belligerence.nbsp;As a human being, it8217;s only natural to have an opinion. nbsp;

You have been quoted as saying, 8216;from oppression comes expression8230;8217; How can oppression inspire?Though I am a Hindu, I am disturbed by the Islamophobia that has been generated since 9/11. When a few misguided Muslims do something wrong, why is the community attacked? Islamophobia today is going the way of anti-Jewish propaganda in Germany prior to the Second World War. Rather than simply fearing extremist Muslims, people should consider political leaders who possess, and are willing to engage, a nuclear arsenal. George W. Bush, by such criteria, could be considered equally, if not more, dangerous. nbsp;

In 1929, German filmmaker Franz Osten made an Indian silent film, Prapancha Pash A Throw of Dice. Decades later, you, a British-born music maker, have made music for the period classic. Tell us about the experience.About two years ago, the British Film Institute approached me to bring this 1929 silent black and white film back to life by providing an original orchestral score. I wrote a 60-minute symphony, which the London Symphony Orchestra recorded. I have scored for almost 40 films now, but this was special as it allowed me to look at India from a distance. It was an opportunity to marry orchestral sensibilities with an epic classic. It8217;s a beautiful film8211; a cross between Chaplin, Cecil B de Mille, and classic Bollywood. The film8217;s cast and its producer, Himansu Rai who also plays the evil king, are Indian, but Franz Osten, the film8217;s director, was from Germany. Hence the film presents a Western perspective of India, which made me mix Indian and Western musical styles. nbsp;

But you dislike words like fusion and world music.I don8217;t like the word fusion because its premise is that everything is separate. Music doesn8217;t have the prejudices that people and politicians have. It binds rather than divides. From an individual8217;s perspective, it depends on how much knowledge you have. Playing different types of music is about increasing your knowledge of music and not fusing tunes. My objection to the term world music stems from its unfairness. Why isn8217;t all music called world music? Music stores in the West use it to marginalise the category vis-agrave;-vis rock and pop, which creates an element of apartheid in record shops. nbsp;

Your composition for The Namesake was widely acclaimed. Would you ever compose for a hardcore Bollywood film?I enjoy scoring films with depth and integrity8212;that is always my starting point.nbsp; That is probably why my taste in Indian cinema centres on classics such as Satyajit Ray8217;s Apu Trilogy, Pakeezah and Umrao Jaan.nbsp;I recently worked with Bharatbala, a great director, on his debut feature Hari Om, and that would be regarded as more of an independent Indian production than a major Bollywood film with a star cast. I haven8217;t really seen much of modern, mainstream Bollywood cinema that has wowed me, but I8217;m open to the idea of collaboration if the right picture comes along.nbsp; nbsp;

Your first cousin Lara Dutta is one of Bollywood8217;s leading actresses. What8217;s your take on her as an actress? Have you seen any of her films?I am very fond of Lara my uncle8217;s daughter. We meet every now and then when she is in London and though I haven8217;t seen many of her movies it was great seeing her compete in Kaun Banega Crorepati.

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Who are your favourite Indian actors?Dilip Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Nargis, Hema Malini and all the actors in the Apu Trilogy. Among the modern actors I think Aamir Khan has a lot of depth.

Which are your favourite Indian film scores?Pather Panchali. Ravi Shankar composed for this film in just one sitting of 11 hours. I loved Lata Mangeshkar8217;s voice in Pakeezah. My other favourites include Khayyaam8217;s Umrao Jaan, and, of course, Bombay and Lagaan.

Are there any new Indian collaborations in the pipeline?I8217;ll be working in Delhi next February with local musicians on a project called Aftershock. The basic idea is to bring these musicians together over a week and to help them create a one-hour show of original material, which they then perform to a live audience on the last day of the event. It8217;s quite an intense experience for everyone, but tremendously inspiring.