‘Music has to be a character IN THE film’
‘Satya Manik Afsar’ – trio which has composed background score of The Tashkent Files – highlights the importance of music in a film
Vivek Agnihotri’s directorial The Tashkent Files raises questions about the mysterious death of Former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. Besides the controversial plot and a strong star cast, which includes Naseeruddin Shah, Mithun Chakraborty, Pankaj Tripathi and Vinay Pathak, it’s the music that’s receiving immense appreciation. ‘Satya Manik Afsar’ – team which composed the attention grabbing background score of The Tashkent Files – spoke to Millennium Post about their experience of composing music for the film.
Content driven movies like The Tashkent Files aren’t dependent on music and background score unlike the commercial cinema. How difficult is it to compose something which would not only compliment a film with a strong story/plot but also catch attention of the audience?
Content driven movies also need music, it all depends on sound design of a movie. According to me, music has to be a part /character of any movie because a well balanced design of sound takes you to the time and space of the story. We get involved into the film not only because of visual, but the music playing in the background holds your mind into the space. Nothing is difficult to compose if the director you are working with is clear as to what is required.
Was there any brief given to you by makers on the background score?
Vivek Agnihotri told us that the BGM is very important to him and he wants the background music to be one of the characters of the film which is not seen but is there as an emotion. He mostly knew where and what all he wanted and briefed us perfectly time to time, as a result you can see the film grips you totally.
Do you feel pressurised while working on a sensitive project like The Tashkent Files, where different people might have subjective opinions?
When there are different minds working to make a project successful, it’s normal to have a lot of pressure. But the best part is, we finalise on a common ground only after a lot of discussion.
Talking particularly about TTF, there were other factors to consider as well. Satisfying a director like Vivekji, and getting the correct theme for a subject like Shastriji, was indeed very challenging.
How important is box office collection for you?
Certainly Box office is very important for any project; more than us it is important to the producers and financiers of the film. Because if they will earn then only there will be more films and more work for everyone involved in film trade.
What is next on your plate?
To name a few, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Karan Singh Grover Jackie Shroff and KK menon starrer Firkie in which we have a song with Ustad Rashid Khan. Also, there is a children’s film Decent boy. Both the movies are in their post production stage right now, and should be released by July/ August. Few more projects are at disscusion stage and of course our regular Ad-films, TV shows and short films for digital platforms keep happening.