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Journalism of Courage
Independent bands making music for films state Bollywood isn8217;t the last bastion
Randolph Correia, of the relatively small electronica duo band Shaai8217;rFunc, has for the first time composed a full soundtrack for the movie Saas Bahu aur Sensex. The movie may have been a dud but Correia feels that it8217;s a head-start for him, since it8217;s his first serious exposure to Bollywood,
and towards making mainstream popular music.
Though music from the Indian film industry has always been catchy, the predictability of the tracks is about to change, with bands that have focused on creating original sound coming in. 8220;A lot of music from Bollywood sounds exactly the same,8221; says Correia, whose tracks for Saas Bahu have a lot of progressive electronic sounds instead of dance and bhangra beats.
Kailasa is another group that has created a separate Bollywood identity for itself. They like to call themselves the Kailash-Paresh-Naresh trio. Departing from their conventional Sufi sound, the trio is ready to bring in unplugged and acoustic beats with their composition for Sushant Shah8217;s Dus Vidhaniya starring Vinay Pathak and Neha Dhupia.
8220;The music that we have done for the film is new for us as well,8221; says Paresh Kamath, guitarist of Kailasa, who have recorded their music live. 8220;There8217;s a certain human element that lengthens the song8217;s shelf-life when it8217;s live,8221; adds Kamath. The trio has also composed two tracks for the forthcoming Chandni Chowk to China that even includes a qawwali with a twist.
But not all consider Bollywood a progression, though all musicians acknowledge it the fastest way to get noticed and top the charts. 8220;I8217;m not progressing to Bollywood. In fact it is a step down for me as a musician since it cannot provide any inspiration. But it is a decent money-making proposition,8221; says Correia, who has also produced a track for Drona. Agrees Rahul Ram, bassist, Indian Ocean who says, 8220;Bollywood is not our final bastion. The filmmakers are coming to us for our sound.8221; The band has composed the soundtrack for the recently released Hulla and a film titled Bhoomi is in the pipeline. 8220;The soundtrack for Hulla basically has one main song and three versions of it, apart from the background score. But the sound for our films, be it in the past or the future, will continue being the sound that is Indian Ocean,8221; says Ram.
Most of these bands are continuing with their independent work that only benefits from their exposure to Bollywood. 8220;It aligns your creative thought process with what people want to hear which can be a challenge,8221; admits Ram. 8220;Working on a script written by someone else makes us think differently which may not have been possible otherwise,8221; says Kamath.
While Correia is busy trying to take his group Shaai8217;rFunc and Pentagram to the next level by cutting new albums, Kailash-Paresh-Naresh turn back to Kailasa to record their third album. And Indian Ocean has just released their DVD, Indian Ocean Live.
